Michigan State basketball: Stock watch after Colgate

Michigan State basketball is finally back, and the Spartans got the season started with a win against Colgate. The win was highlighted by some good performances and some good signs, while also struggling showing some struggles and room for improvement. Both the good signs and room for improvement was addressed by Coach Tom Izzo after the game, when he talked about some players that performed well, even surprising the coach, while others did not perform to expectations. Who’s stock went up or down after this game?

Stock Up

Jordan Scott

By just looking at the stats, you can see why Jordan played 18 minutes in this game. While he only scored 6 points, he crashed the boards and also looked like he belonged on the court. As a freshman, Coach Izzo even said that he was maybe the teams “second-or-third best player” in this game. Scott not only scored a few points on offense, he provides a different style and play than other guys at his position. This was a pretty good performance from the freshman, and if he continues to play like this, he will be a solid contributor for the team.

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Fears is going to be the guy that gets this team going and will decide how this team is remembered. In this game against Colgate, I thought that Fears played pretty well, especially in the 2nd half. Not only was he able to get 10 assists, he was able to get to the free throw line. Because of that, the sophomore was able to finish with a double-double on the day, and you truly could see why this is his team. He was one of the best players last night and he needs to continue to be night in and night out.

Rebounding

For the first time this year, MSU out-rebounded their opponent and did so in a dominant fashion. Not only were they great at defensive rebounding, the team as a whole had 19 total offensive rebounds, only 6 less rebounds than Colgate had on the entire night. Senior Jaxon Kohler dominated the glass, with 15 rebounds by himself. If this is the type of rebounding that this team will have, they will once again be an issue for other teams to go up against on the boards. However, bigger and more physical tests will be coming up here shortly.

Stock Down

Free Throw Shooting

It seems like this team will once again be getting to the free throw line a decent amount this year. In this game, Michigan State basketball shot 37 free throws, but only made 64.9% of them. That is not going to be good enough for the team this year. Some of those free throws were taken by guys that have struggled at the line historically. However, with it being a new year, that is something that the players have to take a step forward in for the team to reach their potential.

3 point shooting

This looks like it might be another year where MSU is not going to be a great team from beyond the arc. Shooting below 30% might be something that you will see from the Spartans throughout this year, but the looks that they got in this game were not bad looks, and they were not from the wrong guys. If MSU could end up being decent from 3, that would be huge for this team. This game, however, that was not the case.

A Summary for Michigan State basketball

MSU wound up winning this game by 11, but there were times that it was too close for comfort. This was the type of performance that will not get it done on Saturday against Arkansas. In order to get it done against the Razorbacks, the segments I highlighted as stock down are going to have to improve.

There are pieces on this team that provide promise, and there were flashes of what this team could be against Colgate. The keys to this season will be making sure to shoot better from the free throw line, have Jeremy Fears run this team, and make their shots.

If they can do that, Saturday will be entertaining. If not, like Coach Izzo said in the press conference, things could be embarrassing for the Spartans in their next game. With that being said, MSU is 1-0 on the season, even after an up and down performance against Colgate.