{"id":1439,"date":"2023-02-20T14:31:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T19:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=1439"},"modified":"2023-02-20T14:31:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T19:31:31","slug":"michigan-state-basketball-time-40-minute-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=1439","title":{"rendered":"Michigan State basketball: It’s time to put a complete 40-minute game together"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time for Michigan State basketball to piece together a complete 40-minute game against Indiana to recapture some momentum.<\/h2>\n

Slow starts, 10-minute dry spells, meltdowns near the end of games. Michigan State basketball<\/a> just hasn’t seemed to piece together a complete game in quite some time.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, that trend continued.<\/p>\n

Holding a 63-57 lead at the under-eight timeout, it felt like all the momentum was on Michigan State’s side after a big Joey Hauser 3-pointer. Right after the timeout, the Spartans gave those points right back. Michigan hung around for too long. And then, with two minutes left, the game was tied 72-72 and the Spartans were playing great defense with the shot clock running down on Michigan and Kobe Bufkin hit a huge contested three. That demoralized this team as they gave up another 3-pointer on the following possession and then six more consecutive points.<\/p>\n

A game that was tied with under two minutes left finishes as a 12-point loss. A meltdown like that in the final minutes will be the difference between an NCAA Tournament win and the end of a season. That needs to be corrected.<\/p>\n

This isn’t something new, however.<\/p>\n

As previously mentioned, not being able to piece together complete 40-minute performances has hurt Michigan State many times this season.<\/p>\n

Here are just a few examples:<\/p>\n