Busting Brackets
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March Madness: Top takeaways from the first day of the 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Brian Rauf

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers celebrates scoring at the end of the first half during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Marquette Golden Eagles at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers celebrates scoring at the end of the first half during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Marquette Golden Eagles at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Aaron Henry #11, Matt McQuaid #20, Cassius Winston #5, Xavier Tillman #23, and Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans stand on the court during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Bradley Braves at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Aaron Henry #11, Matt McQuaid #20, Cassius Winston #5, Xavier Tillman #23, and Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans stand on the court during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Bradley Braves at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

5) Michigan State‘s concern

I including the Spartans on my list of high seeds that absolutely won’t win the national championship, and they showed why in a much-closer-than-expected win over Bradley.

Michigan State simply lacks explosiveness offensively. Much of that problem is caused by injury, but everything is hard for them on that end of the court.

They don’t get quality shots early in the shot clock, only have a few legitimate scoring threats, and usually rely on Cassius Winston to create offense for either himself or a teammate late in the shot clock. It’s not a winning recipe.

Think this is being overblown and it was just a one-game slip up against Bradley? The Spartans crossed the 80-point plateau in 11 of their first 15 games. Since then (which coincides some with Joshua Langford’s injury), Michigan State has only hit that mark twice.

This team is talented enough and Tom Izzo is a good enough coach that they were able to win the Big Ten Tournament and knock off Bradley, and it might be enough for them to get past Minnesota this weekend, but they haven’t looked the part of a dominant team in quite a while. Eventually, that weakness will hurt them against a team with a similar talent level.

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