“We have to approach our bigs (in) that they have to make those easy hook shots and layups,” Izzo said. “And probably until I leave here, we’ll have to talk about turning the ball over less.”

One area Izzo will be OK with is if MSU continues its tough defensive play. He said he’s been happier with the defense than years past. Even the few games where teams put up better shooting numbers were a little fluky, such as the Michigan game in Ann Arbor.

“We’d be in pretty good shape if we can maintain this,” Izzo said of his team’s defensive performances. “We’ve been real good at the point. We’ve been pretty good inside, because we have a little bit of everything. And we have the ability to rotate guys. It’s the perimeter, the wing guys, that’s where I think we’ve made the most progress.”

Payne’s play
Sophomore center Adreian Payne led the Spartans with 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting in Saturday’s 58-48 win in Columbus, Ohio, against No. 6 Ohio State.

Izzo said it was the best performance he’s seen in the two years he’s coached the big man, but that the expectations have always been in place.

“My expectations have been a little higher than maybe he’s reached,” Izzo said. “Adreian has a chance to be a great player.”
Payne’s skill set is wider than many post players, but hasn’t quite figured out when to utilize what.

“He sometimes wants to be a 3-point shooter,” Izzo said, before relating it to golf. “You can make a 30-foot putt, but it doesn’t mean you stop practicing the 5-footer — you’ll stop making the 5-footer.

“My job now is to get Adreian and (junior center Derrick Nix) to work on the shots they’re getting in games and trying to grow from there.”

And Payne will have to keep his performances up, or feel the wrath of Izzo.

“I told him after the game, ‘You shouldn’t do that because that’s what the expectation is and the new standard is,’” Izzo said.

“I have expectations, but he sets the standards, and the standard has been set to be more aggressive in the post.”

brutal Buckeyes
Izzo went through some of the things he noticed about the film from Saturday.

Although MSU played one of its best defensive games of the season on Saturday, Izzo said both teams played great defense, and that’s why both teams’ shooting numbers were down, but it wasn’t as physical as many thought.

“You look inside, and we just didn’t commit that many fouls with our bigs,” Izzo said. “It just kind of swarmed from our guards because they were missing shots. If you look at the film, there were very few uncontested shots either way.”