Rutgers at Michigan State: 2020-21 key storylines for Big Ten clash

Michigan State’s consistency from three

The importance of Michigan State being successful from beyond the arc has been a storyline almost ad nauseam. In order to avoid going down the rabbit hole once again, let it be stated that Michigan State’s zone offense is poor.

Such is the nature of basketball, it now becomes a ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario. Is the Spartans’ zone offense poor because they cannot hit threes, or do they not hit threes because their zone offense is poor? As the season has progressed, it has become apparent their three-point shooting is not inherently poor, as it is inconsistent. The storyline has thus morphed into, which three-point shooting team will show up to the Jack Breslin Student Event Center to square off versus Rutgers.

The Spartans have not shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc in two consecutive games as of yet this season. Their season-high was a 7-11 performance (73 percent) in a loss to Wisconsin, which was sandwiched between two losses where they shot worse than 26 percent in each. To add to the inconsistency, there has been no correlation between attempts and success.

They made 40 percent of the 37 attempts in their win versus Oakland and followed that up with connecting on 26 percent of the 31 attempts in their loss versus Northwestern. The Spartans have lost a game shooting their highest percentage as well as their lowest percent from the arc. They have also won the game with their most attempts but lost while attempting their lowest amount.

This leaves the conclusion that no analytics can predict what the Spartans should do, so one must watch to see what they will do.