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Michigan State basketball: Spartans in panic mode after home loss to Michigan

By Tristan Freeman

EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 4: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Breslin Center on January 4, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 4: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Breslin Center on January 4, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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After a week full of sub-par performances, the Spartans had a chance to right the ship. Instead, Tom Izzo is searching for answers on a team that should be full of them.

There’s something wrong with this Michigan State team. After getting blown out to Ohio State, they needed overtime to get past Rutgers on Wednesday. That led myself and many others to believe that this game was going to be a breakout performance from the entire team, particular from star Miles Bridges, who earlier in the week was called out by his head coach for his lack of aggression.

The star sophomore at the very least answered the call, taken double the amount of field goal attempts as the next highest player. He had 19 points to lead Michigan State 16-3 (4-2), along with Jaren Jackson Jr., who had 19 as well going 10/13 from the charity stripe.

Related Story: 5 questions for Spartans vs. Michigan

One of my questions heading into the game was how would Nick Ward play, as the center tends to disappear in games. He disappeared all right, spending more time on the bench dealing with foul trouble than he was on the court.

But even when he was on the court, he along with the other frontcourt players on this team had no answer for Moritz Wagner of Michigan, who had a career-high 27 points on 8/13 shooting, including making all eight of his free throw attempts. The other primary concern on the Wolverines in terms of scoring was named Charles Matthews, who only had 10 points on 3/10 shooting.

It was a foul-heavy game with both teams attempts over 30 free throws, but one stat decided this game for both teams. Michigan 15-4 (4-2), turned the ball over seven times, while the experienced and supposed to be composed Spartans fell apart, giving it away 18 times, spread among the starters.

Another ongoing issue for Michigan State is the lack of production coming from the bench. Gavin Schilling played well with six points and five boards, but Matt McQauid, whose job is primarily to hit threes off the bench, went scoreless in 13 minutes. As a team, they only hit 3/13 from deep.

The loss itself to a good Michigan team is no huge deal, even at home. But some of the issues coming into the season (shooting and inconsistent play from the key players), have resurfaced in another way. Making matters worse, with the exception of Michigan and Purdue (Minnesota lost by 34 to the Boilermakers today so Gophers are out), every other game is potentially a bad loss and one that will hurt the future seeding for this team.

Next: What's wrong with Michigan State?

Something is clearly wrong with this team, and it’s way too early to use the “grind of conference play” as an excuse, especially when the Spartans are vastly superior in talent to most of the other teams. I trust the future Hall of Famer Izzo to straighten things out, but irreparable damage to Michigan State’s seeding is occurring and needs to stop soon.

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