Michigan State basketball: Where is Xavier Booker?

Michigan State basketball fans are once again wondering the question after a win over PSU: where the heck is Xavier Booker?

On a shocking turn of events (sarcasm) the Spartans’ five-star freshman once again barely saw the floor in the 80-72 Michigan State basketball win over Penn State. Xavier Booker thankfully saw the court a little bit in the first half, but he was missing all second half riding the bench.

A lot of Tom Izzo’s recent management of Booker hasn’t made much sense to me. But this game tops them all as the most confusing from Izzo all season.

Where was Xavier Booker?

Xavier Booker had a great stretch towards the end of the first half. He came in for a few minutes and shot a perfect 2-for-2 from the field including one bucket from 3-point range. These five points were the only stats he registered, but he had such an obvious impact on the game overall.

Penn State did not know what to do defensively when Booker was in. No other Michigan State big can shoot the three like Booker, so that made their defense have to adjust how they’re guarding the Spartans’ offense completely. You saw this in action in this game the second Booker came in. Space opened up all over the court, driving lanes were much easier to find and many open shots became available. All of this happened simply because Booker came into the game.

This is why MSU went on a huge run while Booker was in, forcing Penn State to use a timeout. And in true Izzo fashion, Booker sat on the bench the rest of the game after that timeout.

Now I’m not suggesting Booker plays a ton of minutes, but at this point he has earned an increase. Especially when he’s playing well, why does he ride the bench the rest of the game? Why not give him another 3-4 more minutes and see what he does?

Time will tell if Izzo will give Booker more minutes, but I’m done holding my breath hoping for it. If Booker hasn’t earned those minutes from Izzo by now, then I’m not sure what he can do to get them.