Out of 355 Division 1 men's college hoops teams, Michigan State basketball ranks No. 348 in terms of 3-point shooting. It's been one of the worst-shooting seasons of any team in the Tom Izzo era and it truly doesn't make any sense given the shooters that the Spartans have.
Jaden Akins was supposed to be a 3-point specialist this year, Tre Holloman was also supposed to be that sharpshooter from deep and guys like Jase Richardson, Xavier Booker, and even Kur Teng were supposed to add some shooting off the bench -- even Gehrig Normand had been mentioned in the offseason.
To see these guys struggle this much from deep has been alarming but it's kind of just owned as the Spartans have been making it work with elite free throw shooting, solid penetration and scoring in the paint, and a lot of fast-break points.
On Tuesday night against Indiana, it was the first time all season in which I felt like the 3-point shooting might just send this team home early.
Obviously in the past we've seen Michigan State teams who shoot the heck out of the ball (2015-16) get sent home early because they had lived by the three all year and then when it mattered most, the 3-ball killed them. Live by the three, die by the three. This year's team hasn't lived by the three at all which is why a cold shooting night isn't the end of the world.
But when every team realizes that you can't crack a zone, there's a problem. Teams that watched Michigan State just sit around the perimeter and chuck up bricks on Tuesday are now starting to realize that running a zone might be the only way to truly secure a win against Tom Izzo and the Spartans.
For the first time all year, I'm starting to believe that poor 3-point shooting is going to send Michigan State home early in March. A lesser NCAA Tournament team is just going to zone up and dare the Spartans to shoot.
There's still time to improve on 3-point shooting. Heck, there's a month to play still, but this team isn't going to beat anyone by getting hot from deep. They just need to be somewhere around average the rest of the way.
It's hard to believe that this team can't make above 30 percent from long range. But it's going to be their downfall.