And the road games won’t get any easier while the team finishes up its Big Ten season, as the Spartans still travel to Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State — in three arenas known to rattle the opposition.

“We lost two games we shouldn’t have … it’s inexcusable,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said at his Monday press conference. “(Penn State and Iowa) played good and played hard and they deserved to win in a lot of ways. And if they didn’t, we’d be sitting here 24-3, we’d be ranked fourth, fifth or sixth in the country and talking about playing for first place.”

But then Izzo posed a question to the media — how much different of a team would we be?

“Not a lot different — that’s what’s hard to keep in perspective sometimes,” Izzo said.

“I told my team, ‘You all know we have the toughest stretch left … we play four of the best teams in the league.’”

Izzo has consistently talked about a need for more physical and mental toughness, something he doesn’t see in much of his team — with the exception of junior guard Travis Walton.

And although Izzo’s squad doesn’t have athletes who are known for throwing people around, he said his team has players who can play together and be successful.

If they start trying to become players they are not, Izzo said it would hurt the team rather than help it.

When struggling, the important thing is fixing those specific problems — not becoming a completely different player.

Izzo often tells members of his team, “I’m not trying to move you forward of where you were, I’m just trying to get you back to playing like I always know you can play and what you’ve always done.”

Heee’s heeeating up!

If sophomore forward Raymar Morgan was living inside the video game “NBA Jam” right now, his sneakers would be lighting up and the basketball would be on fire when it touches his fingertips.

The Spartans’ leading scorer has missed only one shot in the past two games — averaging 16 points in that stretch.

“I’m trying to help my team win,” Morgan said. “It’s great that my shots are falling and I’m improving little by little. But I want to win games. That’s the most important thing right now.”

Izzo said he admires Morgan because of his ability to keep his head on straight and his eyes focused on the team’s goals.

“Some kids will get cocky over accolades … is he going to go pro at the end of this year or at the end of next year?” Izzo said. “Some kids feel the pressure. I knew he wasn’t cocky.”

This season, Morgan has been a less-than-average free-throw shooter at 69.5 percent — an aspect of his game he excelled in while in high school and as a freshman.

So the coaching staff took time to look at Morgan’s form at the free-throw line and discovered he has been bringing the ball in too tight before his shots.

Since then, Morgan is a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the last two games.

Senior guard Drew Neitzel said Morgan is a huge part of the team and improving different parts of his game will only help the Spartans in the long run.

BTN-ightmare

Izzo said Big Ten Network might be going through what other major networks dealt with in their early stages — a doubtful future.

But at this stage, he described Big Ten Network as “a nightmare … a (public relations) nightmare.”

“I make more calls than I ever have to people that write me who are really upset about it,” Izzo said. “It bothers me from a recruiting standpoint and to be honest, it bothers me more from a fan standpoint because I think if the young kids can’t watch it, how do they get to be fans that buy tickets later?”

Izzo said it’s a trickle-down effect that truly disappoints him.

“We used to say, ‘If you can’t afford a ticket, you can at least watch,’” he said.

For some Spartan fans, that may not still be the case.

Izzo said he hopes network companies pick up Big Ten Network in the near future, so Big Ten basketball fans easily can access the games they want to see.