Michigan State basketball: No moral victories after Illinois loss

After losing to Illinois by three points, there is no room for moral victories for Michigan State basketball.

Michigan State basketball suffered their second straight loss on Thursday night, this time to Illinois 71-68. The Spartans fought hard against the No. 10 team in the country, even coming back from a nine-point deficit in the first half. This game had “moral victory” written all over it.

And honestly, I would be running with that headline, too, if the Spartans’ record wasn’t what it is.

Why this game isn’t a moral victory

I’m all for moral victories in certain situations. There are never moral victories in the postseason or against a bitter rival. But in a mid-January game on the road against a top-10 opponent? That’s usually the time when you can find something to be happy about after a loss.

But not this time. The Spartans’ record isn’t good enough for moral victories. After the loss to Illinois, the Spartans fall to 9-7 on the season and 1-4 in Big Ten play. Have you ever even seen a Michigan State team start 1-4 in conference play? I have an answer to that question and it’s no. This is the worst conference start in the Tom Izzo era.

They are also running out of time for resume-building wins. The Big Ten isn’t that strong of a conference this season, so the Spartans won’t have many opportunities like this left on their schedule. So that’s another reason why I can’t accept a moral victory in this loss.

Tom Izzo indirectly talks about a moral victory

During Izzo’s postgame press conference, he indirectly talked about how this game feels like a moral victory. Izzo never used those words specificslly, but reading between the lines tells you it’s on his mind.

While reflecting on the game, Izzo said, “If we would’ve played that good, we would’ve won three or four more games.”

I agree with most of what Izzo is saying here. They played pretty well in this game, and if they had played like that, they likely beat James Madison, Nebraska, Northwestern, and maybe one of Duke or Arizona. But that’s the problem with this quote from Izzo — they didn’t play well enough in any of those games to win. So even though his quote is pretty accurate, it doesn’t matter when you don’t win those games.

Things are going to have to change fast for MSU before this season comes to a crashing end. The schedule does ease up slightly now, but there are no guaranteed wins in my opinion.

Up next for the Spartans is a home date with Rutgers on Sunday at noon. That’s the definition of a must-win game.