Loss leaves Spartans seeking consistency
EAST LANSING >> A.J. Hoggard rested his head against the door of his closed locker Tuesday night.
Michigan State has suffered bad defeats this season, but a 78-71 loss to Iowa — littered with what Tom Izzo called “absolutely incredible mistakes” — left Hoggard feeling dejected.
“I don’t like losing, especially when we were on the up that we were on,” Hoggard said. “And knowing what these games mean, every game is a big game, especially toward the end. So, it’s just depressing, it’s draining.”
There were no preceding signs that would’ve indicated trouble was brewing. Michigan State had won three straight, including twice on the road. Izzo said practices leading up to Tuesday went well. The team had a good shootaround, where Hoggard said the importance of keeping the good vibes going was stressed.
But Michigan State didn’t bring it.
“(Iowa) just played harder and better than we did,” Izzo said. “It looked like we were in quicksand right from the get-go.”
The outcome of Tuesday left the team bitter.
“It’s terrible, especially with us being a veteran group, we can’t do that,” Hoggard said. “I don’t even have words to say right now, I just can’t put it together.”
Blown coverages, missed switches and miscommunication on defense led to easy buckets for the Hawkeyes.
Just three days after the Spartans held Michigan scoreless in the final 7:01 on the Wolverines’ home floor, Michigan State allowed Iowa to go on a 15-1 run.
The Spartans pulled within five points late in the second half, but that was all they had left in the tank.
Maybe it was the schedule that caught up to Michigan State. After all, the Iowa game was the Spartans’ sixth in 17 days.
Or maybe this is just who this team is.
After entering the season No. 4 in the nation,
Michigan State thought it’d be vying for a Big Ten title at this point of the season, not trying to figure out why this team is struggling with inconsistent play.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Tyson Walker said. “We only have two more home games left and to come in and play so poorly, it’s definitely disappointing. I don’t know, thought we were playing hard, putting games together the last couple and we just didn’t do it today. We kind of reverted back to the old us, and we can’t do that.”
“We knew how big this game was and just to drop it,” Hoggard said. “I mean, yeah, we have more games to play, but how many more times are we gonna keep saying that with four games left? So, it’s to that point.”
Tuesday wasn’t the first time Michigan State looked like it had turned a corner this season, only to suffer another setback.
The Spartans responded from a 0-2 Big Ten start by demolishing then-No.6ranked Baylor. It sparked a five-game win streak that was disrupted by a bad loss at Northwestern last month. Michigan State rebounded from back-toback road losses by winning three in a row. After picking up its first Big Ten road win at Maryland, the Spartans crumbled at Wisconsin.
Tuesday was the latest debacle.
“We know the margin of error is very small, especially in this conference. Top to bottom, anyone can beat anyone, so just got to be on your game,” Walker said. “You can’t take anything for granted. Can’t get possessions back, so everything counts.”
Michigan State had Wednesday off to recuperate before the team starts preparing for Sunday’s game against Ohio State.
“I’m definitely confident in my group,” Hoggard said. “I’m not doubting my guys at all. I’m just frustrated with the loss. Nobody likes losing, but around this time, losing is definitely detrimental to what you’re trying to accomplish, so that’s where I’m at with it right now.”