By Aidan Joly
Is there real trouble in East Lansing?
Michigan State opened the season at No. 4 in the preseason top 25, an indicator that it was going to be one of the best teams in the country.
That hasn’t even come close to happening. The Spartans opened the season with a 79-76 overtime loss to James Madison, an indicator of things to come for both teams. JMU is one of the last seven undefeated teams in the country at 9-0 and is currently ranked at No. 20 in the country. So looking back, it doesn’t look so awful.
However, the rest of the start for the Spartans has been dreadful. Tom Izzo’s squad is now 4-5 after a pair of losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska to start Big Ten play 0-2 – which now marks the second time in four years that Sparty has started with that mark in league play. It started 0-3 in Big Ten play in 2020-21 and barely snuck into the tournament, where it lost in Dayton in the First Four.
It also has losses to Duke and Arizona, both very forgivable losses, but in theory the Spartans would likely be 7-2 or 8-1 at this point in the season. Instead, it sees itself on the outside of the tournament bubble right now, and may stay there for a bit unless it turns itself around in the next few weeks. It’s definitely understandable to see panic setting in.
It’s fairly easy to tell what the issue is here, too. Michigan State has gotten a complete lack of production from its big men, Mady Sissoko and Carson Cooper. Sissoko has taken a real dip in performance and has averaged just 4.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, both so far lower than last year’s stats. Cooper has been worse, averaging 3.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Both are technically higher than last year, but Cooper played very sparingly as a freshman last season.
Neither has looked anywhere close to good on the defensive end, too, and both struggled against Nebraska center Rienk Mast, who scored eight points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Nebraska’s 77-70 win against MSU on Sunday.
A glaring absence has been 6-foot-11 freshman Xavier Booker, who has seen the bulk of his 63 total minutes come against mid-major competition (17 against Southern Indiana, 19 against Alcorn State, 12 against Georgia Southern). He weighs 220 pounds, not much for a guy of his size, so it seems he lacks the needed physicality to play center in the Big Ten.
MSU is also without 6-foot-9 sophomore Jaxon Kohler, who is still recovering from a foot injury.
6-foot-8 Malik Hall may have to be an option at big man as the Spartans might have to go small. On Sunday he played well, scoring 22 points on 6-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
If that happens?
Izzo said that Nick Sanders (son of Barry) and his own son Steven Izzo could both be options moving forward. Sanders is 5-foot-10 and the younger Izzo is 5-foot-8. Both are walk-ons. Neither has ever scored a single point in a Michigan State uniform.
Is it that bad? It’s tough to say how serious Izzo was with that quote.
There is certainly time for Michigan State to turn it around. There’s three months left in the regular season and the Spartans are only nine games in. But it has to pick up fast. As it stands, MSU seems to be on the outside looking in to make the NCAA tournament.
The Spartans have three non-conference games left. It will take on Baylor on Saturday, which is a major opportunity for this group to pick up its first major win of the season. Then, it’s three games against mid-major competition in Oakland, Stony Brook and Indiana State before it gets into the thick of Big Ten competition.
Can it turn things around? Certainly. Will it? We’ll see.
AJ Hoops 