“What we are is, we’re short,” Izzo said. “What we are is, we should be getting beat on the boards. What we are is, we should be getting killed in the post and that didn’t happen. The problem, when we lost the two bigs, is we have to cover things differently now.”

Although MSU has only two true big men healthy, forward Nick Ward and forward Kenny Goins, it is apparent — the bigs are not the problem. Goins led the Spartans with nine points, the team high against Kentucky.

“It’s going to take some time and some work and I’m not going to make any excuses for me, but I will make one for my players: it was a long trip, and you come here and play maybe one of the most athletic teams we’ll play all year and we hung in there,” Izzo said. “The play before halftime was disappointing, but we’re a better offensive team than this. I thought we’d be a better shooting team.”

A meager 5-for-26 from the three-point line, top-considered shooter sophomore guard Matt McQuaid converted 1-of-6 field goal attempts, each attempt coming from beyond the arc.

Freshman forward Miles Bridges dropped off from his 21-point performance in the Arizona opener. Kentucky limited him to 2-for-11 shooting, 1-of-5 from 3-point territory for six total points and nine turnovers.

“Well, I’m actually a little embarrassed,” Izzo said. “I felt like we competed defensively for the most part, we just didn’t do anything offensively. We looked like a team that was an AAU team; just went one-on- one, didn’t move the ball, got frustrated. I think some of it was that we were a little fatigued and I think John (Calipari) did a hell of a job. I do think that is one of his better defensive teams. They did a very good job.”

While the offensive side is in a downward spiral, Izzo said during media day that the senior class, especially guard Eron Harris, will have to step up to provide more scoring options for the Spartans.

Harris is off to start the season with nine total points in two games after averaging 9.3 points per game a season ago and 17.2 points per game at West Virginia before transferring to MSU. Harris has committed seven turnovers and has converted 4-of-11 from the field, 1-of-6 from the three. He was responsible for defending Kentucky guard Malik Monk who ended the game as the team’s highest scorer with 23 points, knocking down seven 3-point field goals.

While the guards are floundering for a recovery, Ward and Goins have been able to batten down the hatches inside. After playing arguably the tallest team in college basketball, Arizona with three players 6-foot-11 or taller, and a large Kentucky team, the Spartan big men pushed the rebounding margin against Arizona and were plus-four against Kentucky. A good portion of help came from Bridges’ 12 rebounds against Kentucky.

“It’s just a bad month for us, but that part doesn’t phase me, I’m not worried about that,” Izzo said. “I have good guys. I was very disappointed in the way we were kind of ‘deer in the headlights,’ but you know you have four freshmen playing at Madison Square Garden and coming off the Hawaii trip, that’s the way we played. We’ll get better.”