Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from frustrating loss to Purdue

Michigan State basketball lost another frustrating game on Saturday night as Purdue held on for an 80-74 win.

Saturday once again wasn’t the Spartans’ night. Michigan State basketball suffered its third straight loss, this time to Purdue 80-74. Sure a six-point loss to Purdue on the road isn’t that bad, but we are past the point of moral victories this season. MSU needed a win, and it failed to do so.

Here are the three biggest takeaways I had from the game tonight.

1. Too many terrible stretches throughout the game

I think Michigan State proved that it can hang with a team like Purdue. Throughout a large portion of the game, the Spartans hung with Purdue and looked like they were on their level. There were even stretches where MSU looked better.

But there were far too many periods of just terrible play from Michigan State. The final 10 minutes of the first half were awful. MSU had a seven-point lead and lost it all and then some before halftime. The beginning of the second half was even worse and saw Purdue take a huge lead.

Nobody is going to play perfectly all game long as every team has bad stretches every game. But MSU’s bad stretches were horrible and prevented them from winning this game even when they played extremely well the rest of the game.

2. The future is bright with Booker and Holloman

Regardless of the outcome of this game, the future is bright with Tre Holloman and Xavier Booker. Both players shined throughout this game, especially in the first half.

Holloman finished the game with eight points on 2-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. He also brought a lot of energy on defense and showed how he can be an elite two-way player. Booker also played extremely well again in this game. He may have struggled defensively against Edey, but I’m not going to hold that against him because everyone does. Booker, however, shined on offense, finishing with 11 points including 2-for-5 from 3-point range.

Both Holloman and Booker will see an increase in playing time next year, and I’m excited to see how much they thrive with more opportunities.

3. MSU let two Boilermakers get hot who they had to stop

No, this is not referencing Zach Edey. There is flat-out no stopping him, especially with the post players on MSU’s roster. But where Michigan State basketball failed was guarding the rest of the Boilermakers. The Spartans should have been fine letting Edey score a lot as long as they stopped two other key Purdue players.

Fletcher Loyer is one person who had been struggling coming into this game, and MSU needed to keep it that way. That unfortunately did not happen. Loyer finished with 15 points and was 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Braden Smith is the other Boilermaker who MSU had to stop. He, however, went off for Purdue, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Michigan State never really stood a chance with these two having the games that they did. Edey will always be able to do whatever he wants, but it’s these two the Spartans failed to defend that hurt them in the end the most.