For coach Tom Izzo and his squad, Tuesday's game against the Jayhawks in the Champions Classic wasn’t a must-win game. It was more of a learning experience.
“I mean, who cares if you lose a game, you know,” Izzo said after No. 10 Michigan State's 92-87 loss to No. 1 Kansas. “And I don’t mean that as ridiculous as it sounds. But, when you lose a game, those guys are a little more coachable tomorrow. And I’ve got good, coachable kids. But you know, everyone just thinks you’re going to do this or that, you might as well come out and get punched in the mouth and then figure it out.”
Despite shooting 44 percent on the night, the Spartans were able to put up a hefty 87 points against Kansas. The Spartans had four players reach double figures in the point column, including guards Joshua Langford, Matt McQuaid and Cassius Winston with 18, 12 and 13, respectively.
But perhaps the most surprising offensive showing was that of redshirt senior forward Kenny Goins, who put up a career-high 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds and helped pace the Spartan offense.
“I don’t think a lot of guys really expected me to come out and shoot the way I did,” Goins said. “I think Bill Self said, ‘We didn’t count on you shooting the threes,’ so they let me take as many as I did. Just having that confidence and being on this stage as many times as I have, you kind of know what to expect, and the bright lights don’t scare you as much now.”
A big factor in the amount of points produced by the Spartans was their success from long range, as they sank 12 3-point shots on a 52 percent clip. And Goins was a key contributor to this number.
Goins drained three of his eight shots (37.5 percent) from behind the 3-point line, putting up career highs in both 3-point makes and attempts. His career-high in 3-point attempts heading into Tuesday was three, which happened in the Spartans’ 91-61 victory at Maryland back in January. He was held back from long-range opportunities, and probably for good reason, as his shooting percentage from beyond the arc last season was a shade under 27 percent.
“He did a good job getting his feet set, finding spots, making plays, and shooting them with confidence. That was big to help us out as a team and we did a good job finding him,” Winston said.
Goins did not attempt a single shot from long range in the first 71 games of his collegiate career. His first attempt wasn’t until midway through his junior season in a New Year's Eve matchup against Savannah State last year.
However, after a productive offseason in which he worked to develop his shot, he is now being rewarded long-range opportunities.
“It was well deserved too,” said forward Xavier Tillman. “Just like me, (Goins) worked his ass off this summer. Plus I’ve always known Kenny has a lot of game, can shoot the lights out, even last year, his junior year, shooting the lights out in practice. He just needed to put it in game form.”
Goins will have another chance to show off his newfound range when MSU takes on Florida Gulf Coast in the Spartans’ home-opener at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
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