Michigan State basketball lost its fourth game in the last five at Indiana. What did we learn from the 65-64 loss?
Michigan State basketball yet again suffered another loss, this time to Indiana 65-64. That now makes four losses in five games — not what you want to do as postseason play begins.
Let’s take a look at my three takeaways from this game.
1. Tyson Walker is special
Shall we start with the one positive? Tyson Walker proved once again today why he is a special player. Without his heroics, Michigan State probably loses this game by 20 points. But Tyson didn’t let that happen.
He finished this game with 30 points on an efficient 11-for-21 shooting. He was also 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line which is something he’s struggled with all year. You would think MSU would win any game where it gets 30 points from its superstar, but the Spartans somehow still couldn’t get it done.
Tyson could very well be ready to go on a special March run, I just hope the rest of the team does their part to help him.
2. This game was lost in the first 10 minutes
The argument can be made that Michigan State still should’ve won this game at the end (see takeaway No. 3), but how upset can you really be about the end of the game with the brutal start to the game? The Spartans were down by 17 points before you could even blink. I don’t care how great you play the rest of the game, it’s tough to win after that. Sure MSU was up seven at one point, but they would’ve been up by double digits if they didn’t start so slow.
When will this team learn to start a game with high energy?
I can’t even tell you how many times they’ve started flat only to come so close to making a comeback. We all see how great they can be when they play hard with a focused intensity, I just don’t understand why we never see that at the start of games.
3. Where is the veteran-led team we should have?
For as bad as the beginning of the game was, MSU still should have won. Especially when you consider how experienced the Spartans are.
Veteran teams don’t lose games when they’re up by seven with 10 minutes to play. Veteran teams don’t lose when their superstar scores 30 points. They also don’t make careless plays that you would expect from a freshman at the beginning of their careers.
Michigan State has thrived on being able to win close road games in its history, but this unit just doesn’t have it. It all comes down to heart and who wants it more at the end of games like this, and unfortunately for us, MSU tends to lack in that department.
I’m not sure where Michigan State goes from here. Are they still going to make the NCAA Tournament? Most likely. But are we confident they’ll even win one game? I know I’m not. This isn’t the Michigan State basketball we used to know, and something has to change or else this is going to continue to be the norm for years to come.
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