With redshirt junior forward Kyle Ahrens re-aggravating his back and not practicing at all Thursday, there’s a chance MSU could play six players in the second half Sunday afternoon at Michigan.

That feels low.

“Full speed ahead, man,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said after the game Wednesday when I asked him about adjusting the pace of play considering the shortened rotation. “We’re just gonna go for it. We’re not gonna change anything. When they’re tired, they’re gonna be tired.”

I hear what he’s saying. Freshmen Foster Loyer, Gabe Brown, and Marcus Bingham Jr. probably aren’t ready to go into the snake pit that Crisler Center will be Sunday afternoon. If Ahrens is out, that leaves six healthy scholarship players.

“At this time of year, you can’t even think about being tired,” McQuaid said. “I’m a senior, I only got a couple more games left. I’m just gonna leave it all out on the floor, and just give it my all.”

It’s a beautiful sentiment, of course, but Izzo is left in a real Catch-22 here. He’d love to get his guards more rest, because they have worn down over the course of the season. Winston looked tired Sunday against Ohio State. 

But, he can’t slow the pace down. MSU’s offensive efficiency comes almost exclusively from their devastating fast break. In the half court, this is a team that is prone to look, well, lost. Without Ward and Langford, their chances of scoring against Michigan in the half court are slim.

So, Izzo, and associate head coach Dwayne Stephens, who runs substitutions, will be forced to try little tricks to get his players rest.

“The pace we're trying to play, we try and get it where, if we get Cassius a sub right before the (under)-16 or 12 minute timeout, we try to,” Stephens said after practice Thursday. “Just get him a quick blow so they get the rest, then they get the timeout, then we get them back in.”

I don’t know how you fix it. Tillman was playing bench minutes before Ward’s injury, and he’s all of a sudden going to play 33 or more per game. Izzo admitted he refused to substitute him once Wednesday night. 

“Twice, he pulled the jersey to come out. Once, I agreed,” he said. “And once I told him to take a hike. 'I can’t take you out right now, my man.'”

In a tournament setting, with games either every day at the Big Ten level, or every other day at the national level, this isn’t sustainable. They need one more guy. Ahrens if he’s healthy? One of the freshmen?

“We’re just down so much, I couldn’t take Cassius out, couldn’t take McQuaid out as much,” Izzo said.

This is a team that has to run. The only problem is they’re running out of bodies, too.