It was the little things, that dug the Spartans to the ground in their 87-75 loss to No. 10 Duke Tuesday night.

It seemed like Duke dominated, which in some respects they did, holding Michigan State to just one shy 57-second lead early on. However, stat-wise the No. 10 and No. 11 teams weren’t too far apart.

On the boards, Michigan State fell just two short of Duke, taking 32 as compared to the Blue Devils' 34. 

Although it may not have seemed like it, Duke committed one more turnover (15) than the Spartans (14) and when it came to scoring off of these, Michigan State topped Duke with 17 points off of turnovers compared to Duke’s 14.

So what exactly went wrong for Michigan State?

For starters, the Spartans just couldn’t get anything started on the offensive side of things. This struggle stems from the Spartans' continuous inability to find a lineup that can replace the expected skill and experience they thought they would have from Joshua Langford and Joey Hauser.

Izzo’s been trying, mixing in different players by giving freshmen Rocket Watts and Malik Hall significantly more playing time than expected. In an unexpected move, Izzo put sophomore Foster Loyer in for leading point guard Cassius Winston just two minutes into the Duke-MSU matchup Tuesday night.

Nothing can get the Spartans running like they have in past seasons, and it shows in their shooting.

MSU shot a horrific 25% from behind the arc Tuesday night, their worst performance from behind the arc since playing Charleston Southern. And they sure couldn’t rely on free throw shooting to make up for it, going 65% from the line, their second lowest performance behind Seton Hall. 

Although Tillman led the team against Duke, the 6 foot, 8 inch Spartan big struggles with consistency. In Maui, Tillman committed five turnovers when the Spartans were stunned by Virginia Tech, which is something the Spartans just can’t afford.

Sophomore Aaron Henry needs to show up as well if this Michigan State squad wants to have anything near the success they anticipated this season.

Henry was essentially absent versus Duke, playing just over 20 minutes, putting a mere two points on the board for the Spartans and blowing his one and only free throw attempt.

But above all else, this team is missing that Izzo camaraderie that has stapled each team in past seasons.

Just when it looks like the Spartans are starting a run, building momentum like Winston, Tillman and Marcus Bingham Jr. did to begin the second half against Duke, sloppy ball-handling and a lack of toughness put the team back at the drawing board.

This 5-2 Spartan squad just looks lost on the court and until they can find a lineup that can work off of each other's energy, balancing defensive dominance and offensive production, they'll continue to struggle to even compete in their coming matchups.

However, it’s December. There’s plenty of basketball left and another four months until March.

The Spartans have faced one of the toughest opening schedules, already competing in three top-15 matchups and looking ahead at two Big Ten competitions before the New Year.

Izzo has been known to like the the competition and Spartan fans can only hope that being knocked off of their No. 1 spot early in the season will only teach the Spartans how to climb back to the top come March.