Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from win over FAU

Michigan State basketball was back today. After a 10-day gap before the Oakland game, the Spartans only had a three-day gap to prepare for Florida Atlantic. This game could not be overlooked because FAU is the highest-rated mid-major the Spartans play via KenPom. As the football team learned in August, FAU athletics have put MSU on upset alert before.

What did the Spartans learn today in their last match before Christmas?

Here’s a clue: the football game was more nerve-wracking. The Spartans swept an out-of-conference opponent in men’s basketball and football for the first time since Western Michigan in 2019.

1. Bad turnover issues kept this close to begin the game

One of my keys heading into this game was for the Spartans to avoid the bad turnover. At the start, they did. The Owls scored a three early, but MSU went on an 8-0 run and it appeared to be business as usual. At the under-16, a few switches and the Spartans went from working in full force to breaking down. Three bad turnovers in a 2:28 stretch led to an FAU lead and made fans quite nervous.

It was not a matter of bad guard play, as the bigs contributed three turnovers of their own of the team’s seven at half. Thankfully, the Owls seemed content to foul in the entire second half of the opening period, and the Spartans pulled away on the stripe and from dunks in that time.

At halftime, the Spartans cleaned it up and only had three turnovers the entire half. Unsurprisingly, the Spartans were able to stave off FAU’s pushes to make the game close without these turnovers.

2. Getting to the stripe was the key to winning the first half

The game was deadlocked for the middle period of the first half, but then the Spartans started getting to the line. After Coen Carr and Szymon Zapala each postered Tre Carroll, and then Owl guard Leland Walker made a business decision to not guard the next Carr dunk, the game flipped.

Michigan State basketball started pushing into the lane, and the Owls seemed content to send the team to the line repeatedly. By half, the Owls had three players holding a trio of fouls, and the Spartans went to the line 14 times.

On the only FAU foul in the first four minutes in the second half, it was a shooting foul that sent Jaxon Kohler to the line. In the second half, the Owls were much less aggressive on the Spartans, along with the favorable whistle leaning towards the visitors. However, the Spartans got to the line six times in the half and converted four. In turn, Coen Carr knocked down a three, Jaden Akins got going, and the Spartans cruised to a 17-point victory that felt much farther apart than that.

3. The 2023 recruiting class shined

Saturday was the day when we saw the future of the program take a leap. Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, and Gehrig Normand all had moments where they shined. The one member of the class who did not have a great day, Xavier Booker, finally cooled off after a career-high 18 points on Tuesday,  so I will give him a pass.

This last month, the trio of Booker, Fears, and Carr have all progressed more and more. Booker had four games straight with double digits, including setting a career-high in points twice during that span. His 18-point, four-offensive rebound performance on Tuesday did not have a great follow-up, but a late dunk ensured he remained in the score column.

Coen Carr has developed range this year, and his main struggle at the start of the year, free throw shooting, is now a strength. Carr has made at least 75 percent of his shots from the charity stripe in the last four or five games. His range expanding culminated in his first career three, which was the loudest the Breslin Center got for a made shot since Steven Izzo landed an and-one last January. Carr made sure to add in his bread-and-butter shots, too, throwing down three dunks. He should have had a fourth if a Jase Richardson pass was not too high. Carr was not quite done after his three, adding one last jumper to shatter his career high and finish with 17 points. He also had a career-high eight rebounds, three of them on the offensive side. Before being pulled, Tom Izzo pulled Carr aside to tell him how proud of the forward he was. In his post-game press conference, Izzo had this to say about the moment: “Moments like this are what make the profession worth it.”

Jeremy Fears Jr. was another guy who made the leap against FAU, tying his career high in points while dishing out eight assists. Fears could have set a career-high and tried for a double-double if Tom Izzo did not pull the guard with 5:55 remaining. That said, it is not like he was needed after Michigan State basketball extended the lead to 20 a minute after he was pulled. Izzo was proud of Fears, calling it the guard’s best game as a Spartan. Not only was his on-court production high, but his leadership was praised by the coach. Izzo raved about the redshirt freshman’s ability to lead the team.

The final member of the class of 2023 is Gehrig Normand. He has primarily been scout team, after redshirting last year and missing time with a lower leg injury during that developmental year. However, Izzo has praised how good the scout team has been, and Normand got to play in the final minute of the game, hitting a three to score the final points of the victory. In the press conference, Izzo said the only part of the game that made him upset was that he did not have a large enough lead to let Normand, Nick Sanders, and Kur Teng play more. “They deserved more than a crumb today; they deserved at least a half meal” was the coach’s statement. I could not agree more. That said, it was great to see the other redshirt freshman make his three.

What’s next for Michigan State basketball?

Michigan State basketball faces another break of longer than a week, being off until Dec. 30. During this time, the Spartans get to travel home to celebrate their holidays, with the conversation of going home being asked during multiple post-game availabilities.

The Spartans will be back in action in nine days to play former longtime Izzo assistant Dwayne Stephens and his Western Michigan Broncos.