Northwestern's freshman guard Julian Roper II (5) attempts to guard Michigan State's freshman guard Jaden Akins (3) during Michigan State's loss on Jan. 15, 2022.
Michigan State finished up a stretch of four out of five games on the road with a 3-2 record with wins over Wisconsin, Michigan and Maryland and losses to Illinois and Rutgers.
The final two games of the stretch, where the Spartans went 1-1, were this week on the road against Maryland and Rutgers. The week started with another nail-biting victory coming on the back of junior forward Malik Hall’s heroics at Maryland and finished with a thorough drubbing by the hands of the Scarlet Knights.
Yet another up-and-down week lands Michigan State at 17-5 overall on the season and 8-3 in conference play. MSU dropped into fourth place in the conference standings behind Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Michigan State, again this season, will have to do some soul searching to solve its internal issues. Here are five takeaways from the Spartans’ 1-1 week heading into the meat of the Big Ten gauntlet.
Rebounding is becoming an issue, fast
When you think of Michigan State men's basketball, you think of dominance on the glass. The hallmark of Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo’s tenure has been out-rebounding every team MSU came across, but that same toughness has not been on display for this iteration of MSU basketball, especially as of late.
Izzo has lamented all season about this team’s ability to box out and deny offensive rebounds, especially on long shots. He’s said it has been a combination of players not giving maximum effort to close out defensive possessions and the coaches not preparing the players well enough to box out properly on longer shots that produce long rebounds.
The Spartans are 40th in the country and third in the Big Ten averaging 38.3 rebounds per game and boasting a +6.5 rebounding margin on the season. Those numbers on their own do not seem bad, but the number has been trending the wrong way for MSU.
Michigan State has been out-rebounded in its last three games against Rutgers, Maryland and Michigan by a margin of 16 rebounds in those three games. MSU has lost the rebounding margin in four Big Ten games and holds a 2-2 record in those games.
The lack of rebounding has also put a halt to the fastbreak attack for MSU, which has been potent at times this year. Without the fastbreak to get easy points, the abundance of turnovers in the halfcourt have been bigger backbreakers than in the past because MSU has less opportunity to make it up.
Gabe Brown broke out of his shooting slump
In the four games leading up to Rutgers, senior forward Gabe Brown was 17.6% from three (3-17). He was coming up short on a lot of shots and his three-point shooting percentage dipped below 40% on the season. Brown said before the game he has been working around the clock to break out of his slump and add more arc to his shot.
The efforts seemed to pay off for Brown, who was a rare bright spot for MSU offensively Saturday. Brown scored 20 points and shot six of seven from three. He was able to keep MSU in the game for much longer than it deserved to be.
That kind of instant offensive production is what MSU needs from Brown and fellow freshman guard Max Christie. Those two are the only players that can consistently create their own shot and shoot at a high clip from three and they are the answers to break the gridlock in the halfcourt offense.
Maryland and Rutgers highlighted some interior defensive issues
In the two games this week, Michigan State allowed 70 points in the paint to Maryland (32) and Rutgers (38). No matter how good the offense is, giving up 35 points in the paint per game is a recipe for disaster.
MSU struggled mightily handling the strength of the two East Coast teams around the rim. MSU’s lengthy rim protectors could not stand their ground and were often pushed off their spot for easy buckets in the post. MSU guards also struggled to deny any drives to the rim, putting MSU’s big men in an awkward position between playing help defense and staying with their man.
Rutgers junior point guard Paul Mulcahy cut through the inside of MSU’s defense time after time on Saturday to finish an easy shot or punish MSU’s weakside defender for collapsing. His penetration led to multiple shovel passes to baseline cutters for easy dunks while their man was watching the ball flat-footed.
Against Maryland, it was again the straight-line drives, this time from the lightning-quick redshirt senior point guard Fatts Russell and junior forward Donta Scott and senior forward Eric Ayala. Scott and Ayala found success by lowering their shoulders and bullying their way to the rim in their near-upset bid.
MSU needs to shore up its rotation and find its grit on defense again because the challenges do not stop. If MSU continues to give up ground around the rim, the tight battles and losses from this week could continue.
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This week shows what MSU basketball is without consistent PG play
The two frontmen of Michigan State’s team, sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard and junior guard Tyson Walker, did not have a strong week. The duo combined for 21 points, 11 rebounds and five turnovers in the two games on the road.
Walker had a decent game against Maryland and provided enough stability down the stretch to help the team eke out a two-point victory. He was also the point guard on the court when the team went over six minutes without a field goal before Hall’s game-winner.
The real struggles came for him against Rutgers on Saturday, when he picked up three fouls in the first nine minutes of the game. Walker was hot out of the gates, scoring five early points in the opening minutes, but could not stay on the court because of his over-aggression on defense. Walker ended up playing six minutes in the first half and only 16 minutes total.
His absence left a weight on Hoggard’s shoulders and he did not step up as he had before. Hoggard finished with five points and five assists but could not provide a jolt to MSU’s halfcourt offense that needed life support in the second half.
Against Maryland, Hoggard struggled too. He finished with zero points and three assists and was benched down the stretch because of an easily avoidable turnover during Maryland’s second-half surge.
The shaky play at point resulted in two of MSU’s lowest-scoring games this year. The team could only muster up 65 and 64 points this week and a large reason why was because their sometimes electric point guards were not playing to the best of their abilities.
Their struggles were highlighted, again, because of MSU’s inability to score in transition and rebound. Both games were played at a much slower pace than what MSU is accustomed to and the weakness of the halfcourt offense became more pronounced.
Malik Hall has become a candidate for Big Ten sixth man of the year
After his game-winner against Maryland, Izzo declared that Hall should be the sixth man of the year in the Big Ten.
Hall has been a lifesaver for MSU all season, and the late-game heroics to escape Maryland with the win was just the latest example. Hall has become a bedrock on both ends of the court and is one of the most reliable scorers on the team.
Hall’s 16-point, six rebound performance against Maryland was just the latest. Hall is averaging 10.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and is shooting 56.7% from the field in 22.4 minutes per game this season. Time and time again, Hall has taken the game over for MSU in crunch time and lifted them to victory.
Now in terms of the award, Hall has some stiff competition in West Lafayette. Purdue is lucky enough to have two All-American caliber centers on roster, leaving 2021 first-team All-Big Ten center Trevion Williams to a reserve role. When one of the best players in the country is coming off the bench and is averaging 12.4 points and 8.2 rebounds a game, it is tough to beat.
