Michigan State basketball: 3 quick thoughts from loss to No. 1 Kansas

If you hear a loud clanging sound, that’s just the noise coming from State Farm Arena after another missed Michigan State basketball 3-pointer.

A disastrous 3-for-24 shooting performance from deep was the difference on Tuesday night as Michigan State seemed to be on the same level as No. 1 Kansas but just couldn’t get any open shots to fall. The Spartans left it all on the floor, but fell just short, 77-69.

While it may seem like a discouraging loss, it truly wasn’t a bad performance in any regard outside of the 3-point shooting for Michigan State.

In fact, the Spartans shot nearly 50 percent from inside the arc, had 43 rebounds, and made 18-of-21 free throws. Truly the only ugly showing on Tuesday night other than Xavier Booker and Jaden Akins being no-shows was that 3-point shooting.

Here are my quick thoughts on the loss.

1. Xavier Booker needs a wake-up call

Has anyone seen Xavier Booker? Did he ever get off the bus? The sophomore who was expected to take a mammoth leap this year has gone from potential superstar to in the slump of a lifetime, finishing with zero points, one rebounds, and a block on 0-for-5 shooting. He also played very minimally in the second half as it seemed as though he was either in Tom Izzo’s dog house or he just knew it wasn’t his night.

Maybe the second-half minutes were a wake-up call for Booker but he needs one before he slumps his way through an entire season.

2. Bench scoring won’t be an issue this year

In years past, it always felt like Izzo had too long of a bench and he needed to trim it, but it legitimately feels like this team is 10-11 guys deep and everyone that comes off the bench can play. In fact, the bench out-scored the starters against Kansas with 39 points on 15-of-33 shooting. They also hit two of the only three 3-pointers Michigan State had all night.

Having Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr, Jase Richardson, Tre Holloman, Kur Teng, and Carson Cooper coming off the bench is going to be a major advantage for Michigan State basketball come Big Ten play.

3. Missed threes were the difference

While I will say that there were two moments late in the game that were mismanaged by Michigan State and could’ve potentially led to a different final result, the only true difference in this game was the 3-point shooting.

No, Kansas didn’t shoot it well from deep either, but they relied heavily on Hunter Dickinson to do the dirty work inside and he led the offense with 28 points. They didn’t need to make a ton of threes because Dickinson did whatever he wanted essentially. Michigan State, on the other hand, was wide open for at least 75 percent of its 3-point attempts and it still shot just 3-for-24. They were 2-for-22 until a late three by Frankie Fidler but that can’t continue or else it’ll be a long year.

I’d be more worried if this team couldn’t get an open shot, but the ball movement was there and the shots were all solid but they just weren’t falling. If Michigan State makes 2-3 more of those shots, this ballgame is going in the other direction.