Michigan State Basketball: Takeaways from Spartans victory over Western Michigan

It wasn’t a great start for the Spartans, but Michigan State Basketball defeats Western Michigan in their 2021-22 season opener. The Spartans’ offense and defense struggled against the Broncos early on in the game. Western Michigan had their biggest lead of six when they were leading by a score of 15-9.

Max Christie and Gabe Brown were unable to score early and the Spartans gave up four early three-pointers. Malik Hall committed a foul on a three-point attempt and head coach Tom Izzo went to his bench early playing ten total players prior to the ten-minute mark. Around the nine-minute mark, the Spartans took a five-point lead when they led 23-19.

Marcus Bingham in the first half had 10 points on four for four shooting and he made both of his free throws. The Spartans’ second-leading scoring at the half with seven was point guard Tyson Walker who made three out of his four field-goal attempts and he had three assists as well. Joey Hauser had five points but what stood out for him in the first half with his nine rebounds and his solid defensive play. A.J Hoggard only played eight total minutes in the first half but he had four assists, three rebounds, and a block.

Michigan State went into halftime leading by 21 points with a 46-25 lead to start the second half. Western Michigan’s star player and point guard B. Artis White appeared to have an injury early in the game and only played four minutes in the first half. The Spartans’ defense in the second part of the first half did an excellent job defensively limiting second-chance opportunities for the Broncos.