Michigan State Basketball hosted fellow Final Four contender UConn on Tuesday, a preseason battle of top-10 teams. While there’s no question as to who the star of the Spartans is, the supporting cast is a key question to determining the ceiling for the team.
Against the Huskies, there remains questions. After a back-and-forth battle for 15 minutes, Michigan State fell behind to trail at the half. They weren’t ever able to comeback, falling 78-70 at home. There’s nothing shameful in losing to a top-10 caliber team but what were the takeaways from the Spartans side? Here’s a list of storylines.
1. Anton Bonke’s second half benching
Michigan State’s big offseason pickup was Bonke, a 7’2 center who put up around 10 ppg and 8 rpg at Charlotte. He got the start for the team last night but played just six first half minutes before not playing the entire second half. Coach Izzo said postgame he simply “wasn’t ready” and blamed himself for that. That’s a big concern if he wasn’t playable for them. Freshman Ethan Taylor did have five points in 11 minutes off the bench. If Bonke isn’t better, they’ll need Taylor to have more of an impact.
2. Lack of production from Kaleb Glenn
A key transfer from a year ago was Glenn, a 6’7 transfer who put up around 13 ppg at Florida Atlantic. He missed all of last year with a torn ACL but is back and the hope is that he can give them a scoring boost. That didn’t happen on Tuesday, going scoreless in 10 minutes, not taking a single shot. It’s not a guarantee at all that Glenn won’t be part of the rotation but he’s going to need time to acclimate to the Spartans.
3. Freshman Jasiah Jervis standing out
Besides Jeremy Fears leading all players with 23 points and eight assists in the game, the only other double-digit scorer for the Spartans all night was Jervis. He had 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench, making a couple of three-pointers. The top-75 freshman prospect made 66% of the Spartans’ three-pointers all game and looks to be a key part of the rotation.
Michigan State has lots to figure out on offense but it looks like Coach Tom Izzo may have found another key young player to work with this season.
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