Thursday, March 28, 2024

Spartans sent packing early

Third straight tournament title hopes ruined by the Lions

March 12, 2001
MSU head coach Tom Izzo shouts to the team during the final minutes of the Spartans loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at the United Center in Chicago. —

CHICAGO - Instead of providing a tune-up for the NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten Tournament served as a breakdown for the third-ranked Spartans.

MSU (24-4, 13-3 Big Ten) went to Chicago hoping to capture its third-straight tournament title, but a 65-63 loss to Penn State (19-11, 7-9) in the Spartans’ first game Friday left players hanging their heads.

During the post-game press conference, senior forward Andre Hutson had little to say with his shoulders slouched and a blank stare upon his face.

“We just have to accept it,” Hutson said after a brief pause. “We have to bounce back and get back to work.”

Hutson finished the game with 17 points and nine rebounds.

MSU looked good early, outhustling and outrebounding the Nittany Lions to an early 19-7 lead.

However, defensive lapses, turnovers and poor free-throw shootings allowed Penn State to take a 31-30 halftime lead and turn what looked like an early blowout into a dog fight.

“We did not play with a sense of urgency,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “We just got beat by a team that seemed to want it a little bit more than we did.”

Izzo’s seasonlong complaints about lack of leadership surfaced again in Chicago. Trailing by one at halftime, Izzo said he was discouraged not to see any Spartan stand up and take charge in the locker room.

“That’s one of the things that I feel is a problem with this year’s team,” he said. “The players play the game. When you’re out there on the floor and you’re in a huddle, there’s no coach there. It concerns me that I’ve been complaining about the same thing all year.

“We haven’t had the kind of leadership you need. I definitely believe leadership is a necessity for winning.”

Izzo said some teams are finding ways to win without leadership, but added there comes a time in tournament play when every team needs it.

Senior forward David Thomas said MSU doesn’t have time to dwell on the loss. With the NCAA Tournament starting Thursday, the Spartans need to regain focus, he said.

“It’s one-and-done time. You can’t just take a break,” he said. “That sense of urgency has got to be there. Otherwise we’ll get knocked out early.”

The only positive to MSU’s trip to the Windy City is the Spartans know exactly what they need to work on.

Considering the Spartans shot a season-worst 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the charity stripe, free throws are a big concern.

“I think we’ve got to work on our free-throw shooting right now,” said sophomore guard Jason Richardson, who finished with a team-high 19 points on a perfect 6-of-6 free-throw shooting. “We’ve got to go back to the gym and just put up hundreds and hundreds of free-throws.”

Senior guard Charlie Bell, who finished with six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field (1-of-4 on free-throws), said the Spartans understand they have to make improvements this week.

“We’ve got to realize that the next loss could be the end of our season,” he said. “I know none of us want our season to end like that.

“We feel that we can do some damage in the tournament. We’re going to work hard all week in practice and work on some things.”

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