The first 20 minutes of Michigan State basketball's lopsided win over Toledo were arguably the most impressive against an inferior opponent all season. The final 20 minutes, however, were a different story.
Tom Izzo voiced his displeasure over the lack of effort in the second half, and said that he's not coaching for the current game, but for the games beyond it. He's trying to make sure the team learns from each outing, not just wins and moves on. I can bet you that practice isn't going to be easy before the Oakland game as Izzo has some lessons to teach about effort.
Michigan State was still able to win 92-69 to improve to 10-1 on the season, but there are some things to clean up moving toward Big Ten play in January.
The Spartans scored 92 and didn't allow 70 and won yet again, so what grades do each player deserve?
It's report card time (going in order of minutes played).
Jeremy Fears Jr. -- B+
I know this may seem kind of harsh, but Jeremy Fears Jr. didn't play his best, and a lot of that had to do with some sloppy plays in the second half. He finished with 15 points and eight assists, but he turned the ball over three times and shot just 4-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-5 from deep. He also didn't record a steal which is shocking for how pesky he is defensively.
Carson Cooper -- B-
Carson Cooper had eight points and nine rebounds, but he turned the ball over three times, shot just 2-for-5 from the floor, missed two free throws, and didn't record a single offensive board. He didn't have a bad game, by any means, but for how well he has been playing, this wasn't quite on par.
Jaxon Kohler -- A-
Not many players in the Big Ten are as consistent as Jaxon Kohler. Doug Wojcik even said at halftime on the radio broadcast that he's been the team's most consistent player all year. That continued on Tuesday with a first-half double-double, ending with 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and a block. Kohler also shot 7-for-13 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep. Oh, and he grabbed six (!!) offensive boards. Talk about effort.
Coen Carr -- B
Izzo wasn't thrilled with a missed layup by Coen Carr, but he responded with one of his better offensive games, scoring 14 points with four rebounds. Those four turnovers that he accounted for, however, really put a damper on his overall grade. He would've gotten a B+ if not for the sloppy turnovers.
Divine Ugochukwu -- C
I mean, this was about as quiet of a game as anyone could half. It was almost as if Divine Ugochukwu was a ghost on the offensive end of the floor, scoring just two points on 1-of-2 shooting and he missed his only 3-point attempt. Kind of a surprising encore to his breakout 23-point game at Penn State. The only other stat he had was one rebound. Very quiet game.
Kur Teng -- A-
Seeing Kur Teng play with confidence is a beautiful thing, especially with how the season started for the sophomore sharpshooter. He looked comfortable and confident on Tuesday, shooting 5-for-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from deep to finish with 14 points in 17 minutes. More of this, please.
Cam Ward -- B+
The energy Cam Ward brings off the bench is palpable. When he's on the floor, it feels like everyone feeds off of him and plays harder. He finished with just five points, but he had a whopping six rebounds in 17 minutes. And he did all of this with a huge brace on his wrist. Ward is going to be fun to watch for years.
Jordan Scott -- B
A lot of what Jordan Scott does just doesn't show up on the stat sheet. So you might look at his two points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal and say that he had a rather poor outing. In actuality, he was doing all the little things right (again), and he looks comfortable out there. Once he hits that 3-point shot consistently, he's going to be really good (he was 0-for-2 from deep).
Jesse McCulloch -- A-
Outside of a bad foul where I felt like he was getting bullied and was out of position, I thought Jesse McCulloch had a great game. He was 3-for-3 from the floor and had eight rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes. He's getting better with each game, and it feels like he should be part of the regular rotation in the post. McCulloch continues to stretch the floor and just play good ball. He had seven points.
Denham Wojcik -- B
Despite being annoyed about seeing him on the floor early in the first half, I gave Denham Wojcik a chance to prove himself. I know, how kind of me. He responded with six assists to just one turnover and made some solid passes that even got me out of my seat. Wojcik was also assaulted on several instances and apparently the coach's kid can't draw a whistle.
Trey Fort -- B-
Trey Fort gets a B- instead of a B simply because he didn't see the floor enough. I don't know what he did to earn a spot in Izzo's doghouse, but he played just seven minutes on Tuesday. He did finish with three points on 1-of-2 shooting and added two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Maybe he's earned more minutes with a decent line in seven minutes.
The walk-ons -- A+
My first A+ goes to the walk-ons. While Nick Sanders didn't get a shot up, Colin and Brennan Walton each took a three and neither touched the rim. A couple of nice threes by the two walk-on bigs got the crowd on its feet after a sleepy second half, and it was the perfect way to end the game. I'm giving it an A+ because they fixed the bad second-half vibes.