Despite pulling out a 66-52 win over North Carolina Asheville on Friday night, the MSU men's basketball team still showed its need for a true point guard.
The No. 9 Spartans (1-0) led by as many as 20 points, but costly turnovers at the point guard position allowed the Bulldogs (0-1) to keep the Spartan lead hovering around 14 for most of the night.
Sophomore Chris Hill and junior Rashi Johnson split time at point guard, with Hill playing 31 minutes and Johnson adding 11.
But the duo combined for five of MSU's 14 turnovers. Several times Johnson would try and push the ball up the floor - the result: an errant throw that sailed over his teammates head and out of bounds. Hill ran into the same problem when he tried to force the ball up court.
"I think I'm doing OK," Johnson said. "Coach continues to stay on me during the game to help me and the team."
It was evident numerous times during the game that MSU head coach Tom Izzo wasn't at all pleased with some of Johnson's decisions. Izzo would call Johnson over during timeouts and free throws and give him an emphatic ear full.
"He just said you don't have to make the home-run pass," Johnson said. "I'm at the point now where I've played two exhibition games, and I should know better right now."
Hill, on the other hand, didn't try to make the highlight reel pass as often, but he said he knows he needs to have better judgment.
"Being out there is one thing, but I still got a long way to go," Hill said. "It's still a transition, and it's something I'm going to continually work on. But I have the confidence that I can get there, and I'm definitely looking at it like I'm the point guard of this team right now."
Offensively, Hill delivered by dropping 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 4-for-8 behind the three point arc. Hill also dished off five assists and collected five rebounds.
Johnson didn't score, and he only took one shot from the field. He added three assists.
With Hill and Johnson dishing the ball around, other Spartans chipped in with assists as well. MSU racked up 17 assists - a respectable number when only scoring 66 points. But Izzo said improvements need to be made.
"We've got to get better play out of our points," Izzo said. "I didn't see the leadership there. Just things like knowing there is six seconds left on the clock and not leaving someone wide open for a three before the half."
