Michigan State Basketball: Good, great, bad, and ugly from loss to Tennessee

Bad: Free throws (again)

It’s concerning that for the first two games, free throw shooting has made an appearance in the bad category. Last week, it was AJ Hoggard and Carson Cooper who struggled from the line, and, while this week wasn’t so much an individual or two, the team as a whole still struggled. Michigan State shot an embarrassing 62 percent from the free throw line in the first half. That absolutely cannot happen, especially when you are struggling with your half-court offense, as they were to start the game. When your sets aren’t working and your shots aren’t falling, free throws keep you in the game and can ignite a comeback. This was not the case for MSU in the first half.

Michigan State basketball would eventually start to hit their free throws in the second half, shooting 80 percent (16-for-20), but the damage from missed opportunities in the first half was already done. In a game where you lose by one, leaving 10 points out there (26-for-36) becomes even worse.