At the beginning of the season, there was one facet of Michigan State’s game that was concerningly struggling. A year ago, Michigan State was one of the best in this area, but it seemed to be a weakness for this year’s team.
Michigan State ranked 22nd nationally in free throw percentage last season at just under 78 percent. That number was good for second in the Big Ten behind only the nation’s No. 1 free throw shooting team, Wisconsin.
Through the first three games of the season, free throws looked like a major weakness. Michigan State was shooting just 67 percent from the line which was brought up from sub-65 percent after a horrible 24-for-37 showing from the line in the opener against Colgate. The team started to improve here over the next few games, bringing that percentage up to 70.3% over the first seven games.
Although it improved, that number would have ranked No. 247 nationally a year ago. That’s unacceptable for a Tom Izzo-coached team.
Over the next six games, Michigan State shot much better from the stripe, hitting just under 76 percent on freebies. That bounce-back started with a 22-for-25 performance against Iowa.
The Spartans took a slight step back over the next seven games, shooting around 72 percent, but it was up to 72.8% over the first 20 games of the season. Again, much improved from the opening month, but not up to par for an Izzo team, especially after we got spoiled by great free throw shooting a season ago.
Although Michigan State has hit a bit of a rough patch over the past six games, the free throw shooting has improved drastically. That was the one positive to come from the annual mid-winter lull.
Over the past six games, Michigan State has been one of the best free throw shooting teams in college basketball, making an astounding 86.7% from the line. Mind you, that’s over a six-game stretch. Not many teams can make over 75 percent, let alone over 85 percent for almost a full month. That’s incredible improvement.
Michigan State is actually the second-best free throw shooting teams in the nation over the past three games (45-for-50).
It may not seem like an important area especially since Michigan State struggled on the floor while it was knocking down free throws at an 86 percent clip, but it’s going to play a big role come March when games are literally won and lost at the line.
This improvement has been fun to watch after everyone hit the panic button on free throws in November. This raises the team’s ceiling ever-so-slightly.