Michigan State basketball: 5 reasons for optimism after Kansas loss

Let me preface this by saying that no, Michigan State basketball fans shouldn’t be “happy” or “content” with losing to the No. 1 team in the country because it was a close game. This program is too proud to be celebrating close losses to top teams. It’s time that the Spartans start winning these games.

But I will say that I thought Michigan State should have won on Tuesday night.

No. 1 Kansas ended up victorious, 77-69, but Michigan State had about a dozen chances to really step on the Jayhawks’ throats and let the opportunities slip away. Is this a case of Tom Izzo losing his touch? I don’t think so, but rather a sign that this is a really young team and the Spartans are still trying to figure out how to play together.

I will say that I was impressed with the ball movement and overall shot selection, but the fact that nothing was dropping really put a damper on a decent game for Michigan State.

It wasn’t all bad, though. I will say that I’m more optimistic after this loss than I thought I would be. And here’s why.

1. The open shots were there

If Michigan State was unable to get any clean looks, I’d be talking about how this could be a long season and that Tuesday night was a disaster. But that was far from the case. Michigan State shot 24 threes and made only three of them and one would be led to believe that the shot selection was poor, but I’d say about 20-22 of those shots were wide-open attempts. You can’t fault them for continuing to shoot — they were open.

Michigan State won’t shoot this poorly again. It got its worst shooting performance out of the way early and still should have beaten the best team in the country. If say 1-2 more threes dropped, we would be talking about a signature Izzo win over the No. 1 team in the nation.

The shots were there thanks to good ball movement, but they just weren’t falling.

2. No “crutch” player

Over the past few years, Michigan State basketball has relied on a “crutch” player. What’s a “crutch” player? A guy who had to play well or the team was going to struggle and likely lose. This team doesn’t have that.

While it’s good to have a go-to scorer, it’s also good to not rely on one guy to get the offense going all the time.

Over the last couple of years, it was Tyson Walker or Joey Hauser and before that you could argue it was Cassius Winston but he had plenty of help when he was off. This year? There really is no “crutch” player which means that this team can play freely and not have to rely on one guy. Sure, Jaden Akins could be that every now and then, but I’d say we learned that he’s not a crutch since he played poorly and Michigan State still should’ve beaten the No. 1 team in the land.

Akins and Xavier Booker combined for two total points and yet Michigan State still scored 69 on the No. 1 team and held leads in the second half. Having them play well would be a major plus, but there are 5-6 guys who can score and create for themselves on this team.

3. Finally, a post presence

Let me just say that I think Michigan State could’ve done a better job defensively against Hunter Dickinson, but he was pretty much automatic from the mid-range and hit a couple of big threes, finishing with 28 points. Still, it’s nice to see that Michigan State finally has a post presence on offense again.

For years, the center position has been a nightmare, but it looked to be a strength on Tuesday with Szymon Zapala playing some tough defense and forcing Hunter to make some tricky shots and he also finished with four points and three rebounds. Carson Cooper came off the bench to score six points with five boards and the star of the show was Jaxon Kohler who scored 12 with 10 rebounds.

Finally, this team can do something offensively in the post.

4. The bench

When was the last time you can think of Michigan State basketball being this deep? The Spartans can play legitimately 10-11 guys and sometimes even 12 if Gehrig Normand or Kur Teng can crack the rotation and hit some shots. On Tuesday, they were legitimately 10 deep.

Michigan State had 10 guys play at least 12 minutes and everyone who came off the bench had a major impact.

Kohler scored 12 with 10 rebounds and a block, Carr grabbed some huge boards and finished with eight points, Cooper had six points and five boards, Jase Richardson continued to be a revelation with eight points, three rebounds, and two assists, and Tre Holloman was decent outside of a big turnover on a breakaway, scoring five points with two assists and two rebounds.

This is the deepest bench I’ve seen from Michigan State in a while and there’s no drop-off from the ones to the twos. That’ll help in March.

5. MSU looked to be on the same level as Kansas

In a game like this when you’re unranked and facing the nation’s top-ranked team, you’re always worried that you’re going to get run out of the gym. That wasn’t even a possibility on Tuesday. Michigan State hung with Kansas and probably should’ve come away with a win, but that 3-for-24 shooting from 3-point range was the difference. Make 1-2 more threes and this is a different article.

In no way did Michigan State basketball look to be out-classed by Kansas despite the Jayhawks returning Dickinson for what feels like his 10th year of college hoops and bringing in some of the top transfers on the market this past offseason. The young Spartans held their own, responded to every Kansas punch with an uppercut of their own and if not for the 35 percent shooting from the floor, they pull off this upset.

If Kansas is the best team in the country, Michigan State is easily a top 15-20 team, at worst.