Michigan State basketball: Carson Cooper should the be starting center

Carson Cooper just had his best game with Michigan State basketball and it’s clear that he should be the starter.

Carson Cooper is coming off one of his best games in a Michigan State basketball uniform. He was all over the court in MSU’s 80-72 win over Penn State, especially in the first half.

He may have quieted down in the second half, but his first-half performance was good enough to earn him the starting spot for the rest of the season.

Carson Cooper shines against Penn State

Cooper finished the Penn State game with a season high 10 points and four rebounds. He also added one assist and one block as well. However, his best play of the night won’t show up anywhere on the stat sheet, but is a prime example of why he should be the starter going forward.

Michigan State was in the midst of a run in the first half and were pulling away from Penn State. After a missed shot, the ball was loose and Penn State looked to be corralling it near mid-court. Cooper however had other plans. He came out of nowhere, won the loose ball which prevented a 2-on-1 break and passed it to AJ Hoggard who found Jaden Akins for a wide open three. Cooper won’t get any stats for that play, but he prevented an easy bucket for Penn State which led to a five point swing for MSU.

This play was sandwiched between a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line as well as two transition layups. Cooper did everything that we expect from MSU’s post players, and that’s why he should become the starter.

Why should Cooper be the starter?

I don’t want to knock Mady Sissoko, that’s not really my style, but he hasn’t been good enough recently. Sissoko isn’t a huge scoring threat, and frankly neither is Cooper. But the latter has shown the ability to run the floor and get timely buckets while also hitting his free throws.

Sissoko is known for his solid defense and rebounding, but he hasn’t been very stellar in those areas recently either. If he was continuing to dominate on defense and rebounding then I wouldn’t suggest anyone should start over him. That, however, just hasn’t been the case.

I don’t think Sissoko should ride the bench by any means and I do think he’ll turn it on still as the season progresses, but Cooper has been more consistent. So I believe it’s time for him to become the starter and see how he does with extended minutes.