Michigan State Basketball: The good, great, bad, and ugly from Purdue loss

Purdue might have finished the winner 67-62, but Michigan State basketball was easily the tougher team on Friday afternoon.

Exactly 24 hours after essentially locking in the NCAA Tournament and beating Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State basketball fell to the 1-seeded Purdue Boilermakers. We knew it was going to be a tall task to take down Purdue, and while MSU fell short, they showed a bunch of positive things moving into the NCAA Tournament.

Even after being down by 12 at one point, MSU had fought back and had the game tied with just 1:45 remaining. Purdue might have finished the winner 67-62, but MSU was easily the tougher team on Friday afternoon. 

Let’s get into the good, great, bad, and ugly from Michigan State’s Big Ten Tournament loss.

Good: Transition offense

I mentioned it in yesterday’s article, but Michigan State is at its best when it gets out in transition. That is the exact situation in which MSU excelled on Friday once again. When the Spartans were in a field goal drought, their transition offense was usually halted. When they got out and pushed the tempo, suddenly they began to fight back. Michigan State finished the game against Purdue with 18 fast-break points, as opposed to Purdue’s zero. Whether they pushed the tempo and it led to an easy dunk or layup, or Tyson Walker on the perimeter, Michigan State was the most efficient when doing so. And AJ Hoggard deserves a lot of credit for his ability to do this against one of the top teams in the country. 

Great: Mady Sissoko

Mady Sissoko is one of the most confusing, frustrating, and difficult to figure out players that I’ve ever seen play for Tom Izzo. He has been slowly losing minutes this season, and rightfully so. He logged just one minute yesterday against Minnesota, and no one batted an eye. On Friday, against one of the top players in the country Zach Edey, MSU needed Sissoko’s minutes and fouls if nothing else. And he did a fantastic job doing so. Sissoko played like a man on fire and gave Edey everything he had. It’s next to impossible defending the 7-foot-4 big man, for many reasons (officiating included), and Mady did a good job trying. 

His numbers on the stat sheet won’t likely blow you away, two points but with seven rebounds, but he did a bunch of the intangible tasks that gave Michigan State basketball a chance against Purdue. We are hard on Sissoko when he plays poorly, he deserves recognition when he plays well. And against Edey and Purdue, he gave it everything he had. 

Bad: Field goal efficiency

Michigan State actually did a great job on the offensive end, in terms of getting good looks. Purdue’s defense is suffocating, even if they do have the refs on their side, and MSU worked itself into open shots over and over again. What they didn’t do, however, is hit on these open looks. From the field, Michigan State converted on just 39 percent. From three, the Spartans were even worse, finishing shooting 22 percent. Against a top-caliber team such as Purdue, you absolutely have to hit your shots when you get open. Or else you’re dead in the water. 

Jaden Akins struggled the most from the field. He finished Friday’s game shooting a horrendous 2-for-11 and 0-for-4 from three. Possession after possession, Akins was open for good looks all over the court, but could not convert on almost anything. With a team that is so guard reliant like MSU is, being that flat from the field is a death sentence. I would expect Akins and Tyson Walker will be spending a ton of time over the next few off days getting shots up in the gym. 

Ugly: A bonus good

While originally writing this article, I had Akins listed as MSU’s ugly from the loss against Purdue. But I feel I touched on his struggles enough in the bad section. I also wanted to point out the horrendous officiating. But that is a cop out and Michigan State basketball can’t blame the loss on the inept officials. So I decided to highlight the Spartan energy and drive as a bonus good. Michigan State has made fans crazy this season with their lack of urgency, effort, and overall toughness. Against Purdue, however, MSU was easily the toughest team on the court. They took blow after blow from Edey and from the officials, and kept fighting back. 

There was a point in their loss in which I was praying Izzo would bite the bullet, take a technical, and get ejected just to show his players he is in the trenches with them. Izzo didn’t, which is probably a good thing, but the Spartans’ effort and toughness did not go unnoticed. I love the feeling that loss provided MSU going into the tournament. MSU just has to utilize it.