Time to panic? No, but MSU needs to find some answers.
EAST LANSING — Panic time? It’s only December.
Cause for concern? Absolutely.
Answers? That’s what Tom Izzo and his Michigan State basketball players are trying to figure out.
Yet just like their slow starts and secondhalf revivals, the Spartans are coming up empty in figuring out what keeps going wrong and why.
“I have no answer for you,” A.J. Hoggard said Tuesday night. “I'm trying to figure it out, just like you.”
Izzo might as well have been Phil Connors during MSU’s 70-57 loss at Breslin Center to Wisconsin in the Big Ten opener for both teams. It was Groundhog Day … again.
Falling behind early … again. Making a furious rally … again. Failing to complete the comeback … again.
“You spend a lot of energy getting back in the game,” junior Jaden Akins said, “and then it's just hard to get over the hump at the end.”
The Spartans (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten) are mired in a funk, with the latest loss against the unranked Badgers (7-2, 1-0) looking much like the ones against No. 24 James Madison, No. 21 Duke and No. 1 Arizona before it. And before that in an exhibition loss at home to No. 13 Tennessee.
The same issues, the same outcome.
“Yeah, 100 percent it gets frustrating,” said sophomore big man Carson Cooper, who had seven rebounds but just three points. “Because you think you're trying to fix it, and then you see it over and over again.”
Izzo promised he would stay in his office into the wee hours of Wednesday morning trying to figure out a way to fix the issues. But the continued sluggish starts that have proven too much to overcome, he said, are his fault.
“That happens over and over again. It’s gotta be on me,” Izzo said. “I’ll take it, I’ll take it. And deserve to take it. … Pin it on me. That's not on the players, that's on me. The coverages, everything.”
Yet that wasn’t how his Spartans felt.
Key players went missing for long stretches at both ends of the court — Hoggard and Tyson Walker — as MSU fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half, flu-ridden Malik Hall late as Wisconsin controlled the offensive boards down the stretch. And Akins, who
scored just two points and did not grab a rebound, struggled the entire game.
“We gotta get Jaden playing better. I mean, there's no secrets about that,” Izzo said. “You're always gonna be as good as your best players that play.”
The Spartans’ two experienced post players, Cooper and Mady Sissoko, provided minimal contributions offensively and struggled with defensive assignments. Badgers 7-footer Steven Crowl went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists; Cooper and Sissoko, both of whom started, combined for just five points and eight rebounds. Five-star freshman Xavier Booker did not get in against Wisconsin, and sophomore Jaxon Kohler remains out after foot surgery.
While Walker (22 points total) and Hoggard nearly pulled MSU from the abyss by teaming to score 28 points in the second half and getting the Spartans back within three points, it wasn’t enough. Defensively, the 6-foot-4 Hoggard couldn’t stop Wisconsin 6-7 sophomore AJ Storr, who had eight of his 22 points in a 19-9 finishing run.
That came after Hoggard’s two free throws with 11:21 to play, his ninth and 10th points of the second half, made it 51-48. The senior point guard did not score again and finished with 14
points to go with seven assists and four rebounds. The Spartans were a minus-17 with Hoggard on the floor, the worst plus-minus in the game, while Storr was a game-high plus-28.
“I think these coaches did an unbelievable job of putting us in a position. I don't think we executed on our end,” Hoggard said. “So we gotta take full accountability for that.”
Wisconsin dominated on the glass, outrebounding MSU overall by 14 and finishing with an 11-5 edge on the offensive boards. Those led to a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points.
“They get 19 points on second-chance points – that shouldn’t happen to us,” said Izzo, who promised his team would rebound better moving forward. “And it’s my fault, because I’m getting soft, because I’m listening to too many people. Maybe I’ll announce today we’re gonna get the shoulder pads out. We’re gonna get back to normal a little bit and quit worrying about all the lawyers and all the other people I worry about. I’m just gonna do what I do.
“And that’s why I said this whole thing is my fault and I’m taking the blame for it.”
Izzo said Hall had a 101-degree temperature earlier in the day, but the Hall of Fame coach still played him 23 minutes and got just two points, three rebounds and three assists from the senior. Hall had not practiced since Friday, Izzo said, adding that Hall wasn’t even in the building for Monday’s workout.
By the final eight minutes, Hall wasn’t able to keep the Badgers off the boards and finished a minus-8 as they pulled away.
“Malik was just gassed,” Walker said. “He was sick the past couple of days. I don't think it was the physicality of things, he just was tired. We've played some physical teams. We know how it is. It was physical both ways.”
It was a decision Izzo lamented.
“It’s not an excuse, I chose to play him. He chose to suck it up,” Izzo said of Hall. “I met with him (Tuesday) morning, there was no chance of playing. Came back this afternoon, he says, ‘I think I could go a little bit.’ …
“I can’t play a guy 25 minutes that didn’t practice. So, again, that’s on me.”
According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Spartans’ loss Tuesday equaled three other teams for the worst eight-game start by a preseason Associated Press poll top-5 team over the last 40 seasons. Izzo’s 2003-04 was one of them, along with that year’s Missouri squad and Louisville in 1986-87.
That MSU team 20 years ago was ranked No. 3 in the preseason but ended up 18-12 overall and went one-and-done in the NCAA tournament. Those Spartans recovered after earlyseason struggles and a conference-opening loss to Wisconsin to finish 12-4 and tied for second in the Big Ten.
Yet until this year’s model develops some consistency from its best players, discovers secondary scoring beyond Walker on offense and displays cohesion on defense, Izzo will remain in repeat mode.
“We're saying the same thing over and over again about having to play better and having to execute,” Cooper said. “But like A.J. just said earlier today, we just gotta change something so we're not having the same talk every after every game.”