Michigan State basketball was on the losing end of the stick for the first time in nine games. Turns out, Michigan State cannot win nine Quad One games in a row. The Spartans faced the only team in the semi-finals that did not have a double bye, and the hot team prevailed. Wisconsin, fresh off of nearly 20 made 3-point shots on Friday, prevailed over MSU with nine more threes today.
However, it was a good time to lose for the Spartans, if there is such a thing. Michigan State basketball will get an extra day of rest and their season will still continue later this week. What did we learn, though?
1. Jase Richardson is the truth
If there was ever any doubt, Jase Richardson’s run in the Big Ten Tournament has shown that he is the alpha of this year’s team. Fresh off of a 17-point outing against Oregon in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, Richardson impressed again versus Wisconsin. Following an injury scare to finish the Oregon victory, Richardson left no doubts about his health. He started with an eight-point flurry in the opening few minutes of the contest.
Richardson hit a pair of threes in each half, and finished 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He also tied with Jaxon Kohler for the second-most rebounds, with seven. Finally, the freshman even cleaned up his free throw shooting, his lone struggle yesterday. He was a perfect 7-of-7 today from the charity stripe. His lone struggle was a rare one, with the freshman picking up three fouls and sitting during a few crucial stretches.
If the Spartans want to avoid another loss like this one, they have to ensure that Richardson continues to get the looks early and often. Unfortunately for MSU, his play during the last month of competition seems to make it a mere formality that he will be in the NBA Draft.
2. Big struggles from the bigs
The Spartans were weighed down by the struggles from their bigs. Outside of Carson Cooper, every big today had an issue. Szymon Zapala struggled. The Wisconsin bigs bullied him early and often. In nine first-half minutes, he finished -11 in +/-, with his lone contributions being an offensive board and a steal. The senior did not enter the game in the second half.
Frankie Fidler (a bit of a stretch to call a three a big, I know) also struggled, with two points on 1-of-4 shooting and a -11 mark in nine minutes. In the second half, Fidler was in for three minutes, and was decimated to the tune of a -7 mark and nothing but wind sprints for the stat sheet.
Similarly, Xavier Booker was lit up by the Badgers. Booker played a single four-minute stretch, and it was forgettable to say the least, or worse yet, memorable for all the wrong reasons. Booker missed an open three, failed the front end of a one-and-one, and had a pair of turnovers. The first came when he was going up for a dunk. Then, Booker let a pass through his fingers when he was wide open from three. Suffice to say, Tom Izzo had saw enough. Booker did not check back in after that stretch. When you add in a Tre Holloman pass that sailed by an unaware Booker against Oregon on Friday, it was a rough homecoming for the Indianapolis native.
Jaxon Kohler, on the other hand, was primed for a big game. The junior added three early boards, picking where he left off 13 days ago against the Badgers, where he recorded 16 boards. Unfortunately, that became a ‘what-if’. Kohler got in foul trouble, and had to sit for 14 minutes in the first half with two early fouls. Worse yet, he picked up a third foul in the opening stretch of the second half. Kohler played 10 minutes in the final half, and even helped make it a game late with a three with 1:01 remaining to close the gap.
I had mentioned in my piece that Kohler appeared to have put his foul troubles behind him, but that reared its head. Thankfully, this is a “dry run” for the NCAA Tournament. Kohler is needed for a deep March run, if that was not made clear by him only playing 16 minutes. Kohler was an astounding +9 in his limited action.
Coen Carr was a far cry from how he played against Oregon, with the sophomore regressing to a six-point, four-board outing. He attempted a pair of threes, both away from his “hot spot” in the corner. Neither went in, and Carr finished 3-for-8 shooting on the night in total. It was not an efficient day.
3. This loss was needed
Michigan State basketball had gotten away with a ton of sloppy second half basketball heading into Saturday. Against Wisconsin, they moved the meltdown up, losing a nine-point advantage in the first half alone. The Spartans got bounced early, but there were tons of learning experiences.
The failure to finish cost Michigan State for the first time in a while. The players also refused to see the bright side or silver lining. There was a lot left on the table, and none of the Spartans wanted to be bounced from this tournament early.
Jeremy Fears Jr. had this to say: “I think down the stretch we didn’t do what we needed to win the game, and it was the little things, like the small possessions. It just matters the most, especially around this time.”
The Spartans have yet to put a full 40 minutes together during their last nine games, but Saturday was their first loss. This is a great Wisconsin team, one that might contend for a Final Four or minimum of an Elite Eight. Outside of John Tonje decimating the Spartans (32 points), the depth of Wisconsin was held in check. The Spartans will recover, and get the hidden blessing of one extra day of rest.
Fortunately, there is time to avenge this loss. Michigan State basketball gets a mulligan, and that is the NCAA Tournament.
What’s next?
The Spartans made the NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed and drew 15-seeded Bryant in the first round which will be played on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET in Cleveland, Ohio.
