Michigan State basketball: The good, great, bad, and ugly from JMU loss

Ugly: 3-point shooting

I don’t care who you play, and at what level, if you shoot five percent from deep, you will lose that game. Michigan State shot just 1-for-20 from three on Monday night. This is a team that shot 50 percent from three point land just a season ago. Going 1-for-20 is one of the worst three point performances I have ever seen from a Michigan State basketball team.

Sometimes the ball just doesn’t fall, for whatever reason. But, when that’s the case, the game plan has to change. Rather than continuing to shoot threes and watch that percentage drop more and more, you have to attack the basket. James Madison had almost every starter in foul trouble shortly into the second half. Rather than attack the basket and force JMU to play soft defense or risk starters fouling out, Michigan State continued to let it fly from deep. Even with a late lead, Michigan State kept shooting threes, trying to be the one to put the final nail in the coffin rather than drive to the hole and force a decision from the Dukes. 

I absolutely do not expect this to be the norm for the season. MSU will figure it out from deep. But, on a night in which so many other things went wrong, adding five percent 3-point shooting to the mix was detrimental. 

For what it’s worth, one of the last times Michigan State lost their season opener in upset fashion, in 1999-2000, the Spartans would go on to win the national title. Just saying.