To say it's been a rough past few weeks for Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball would be an understatement. The Spartans fended off upsets against Rutgers and Ohio State and now sit at 22-5 overall and 12-4 in Big Ten play with four regular-season games remaining.
Three weeks ago, Michigan State was a win away from taking first place in the Big Ten standings, but it all seemingly went downhill with that Michigan loss.
It's actually be tough sledding for the Spartans since the Rutgers game where they needed overtime to beat one of the worst teams in the conference.
The bench contributions since then have been rather disappointing, and you could argue that it's because two promising freshman big men have hit a bit of a wall.
Cam Ward and Jesse McCulloch just haven't been themselves lately, and Izzo has noticed.
He offered up a challenge to his two freshman bigs on Tuesday.
Izzo said he feels Cam Ward and Jesse McCulloch "gotta do more." Met with MSU freshman forward Ward for a while Monday, he added. "He hasn't played with quite the same recklessness" since his wrist injury "and I think he needs to do that for us."
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 24, 2026
It might sound harsh to hear a coach say "gotta do more" but that's just Izzo's way of telling these guys that he knows they're capable of playing really good basketball and they might be in their own heads. The "freshman wall" is a real thing and while McCulloch is a second-year guy as a redshirt freshman, he was injured last season and that set his development back.
Izzo's right, though. These guys have to do more.
Jesse McCulloch, Cam Ward could change the season's trajectory
Michigan State has been trending in the wrong direction lately, but if Ward and McCulloch take Izzo up on his challenge and become real threats off the bench, I wouldn't count this team out in March.
Over the past three weeks, including the Rutgers game, both guys have been ghosts.
Cam Ward: 3.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 52.6% FGs
Jesse McCulloch: 0.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 14.3% FGs
Combining for just 4.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over the past seven games is just not going to cut it for the Spartans down the stretch from two key guys off the bench. They need to be tripling those numbers, at least.
Before this recent tough stretch, Ward was averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds and McCulloch was at 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds. Not wildly better, but very obviously much better than what we've seen over the past few weeks.
It's up to Izzo to get these guys rolling again. It could be the difference between a first-weekend exit and a Final Four run.