Michigan State Basketball: Good, great, bad, and ugly from home loss to Ohio State

Tom Izzo has fans ready to riot as Michigan State basketball dropped another must-win on Sunday against Ohio State, 60-57.

Sunday afternoon’s game against Ohio State was not good for those in the “Tom Izzo isn’t washed” camp. Michigan State basketball is essentially in must-win mode for every game to finish the season, and for one half, they played like it on Sunday.

Izzo finally made a starting lineup change and inserted Xavier Booker at the five in place of Mady Sissoko. Almost out of the gate, it seemed like this was what the team needed. Booker was blocking shots and pulling the defense away from the basket. State would take a 10-point lead to the break, but the lead would dwindle as the second half went along. MSU decided to go back to Sissoko to close the game out, and it proved to be detrimental.

With a chance to take the lead with just six seconds remaining, Tyson Walker missed one of two free throws, keeping the game tied. Ohio State would charge down the court in just a few seconds and hit a game-winning 3-pointer, 60-57. 

Here is the good, great, bad, and ugly from Michigan State’s terrible loss. 

Good: Transition offense

As mentioned, MSU played pretty well in the first half against Ohio State. They took what OSU gave them, and it equated to a 10-point lead at halftime. One thing in particular that they were able to excel at was in transition offense. Michigan State won the fast-break points battle against the Buckeyes 22-8. Jay Wright, who was on the call, pointed out several times that after both missed shots and makes, Ohio State has to get back because MSU will be down the court in a matter of seconds. This isn’t new to Michigan State basketball, but they did a great job doing so on Sunday afternoon. Seeing the big run rim-to-rim and be on the receiving end of an up-court pass from AJ Hoggard was a thing of beauty. 

Great: Xavier Booker

Fans everywhere were rejoicing when the starting lineups were released and Tom Izzo had made the move to Xavier Booker. Izzo finally made the decision for Booker to supplant Mady Sissoko in the starting lineup, and he looked like a genius for the first half of the game. It obviously wouldn’t be difficult to get more production from the five spot because Sissoko was essentially providing none, but Booker looked really good. His defense was creating plenty of issues for the Buckeyes, he would finish with three blocks in his 17 minutes.

Along with the blocks, he had three rebounds, seven points, and connected from deep. Ohio State didn’t really have an answer for Booker moving away from the basket, and even Sissoko filled in next to him for a bit, and it seemed to work. 

On top of his actual work on the court, it was clear that Booker just being included had the Breslin rocking. The fans want to see the five-star freshman, and he fed off that energy. Ohio State had no plan for Booker. Only Izzo himself could help OSU in this regard. More on that in a minute. 

Bad: Tyson Walker

The downfall of Tyson Walker, if you could even call it that, has been extremely strange.

For two months, Tyson Walker carried this team. Almost in a way I have never seen from a player before. He was electric, and was almost impossible to stop from getting to his spot. He suffered a groin injury, and has not looked even close to himself at times since. It’s important to note that Walker is still getting it done for the most part on the scorer’s sheet, but the eye test will tell you he hasn’t been playing to his potential.

Against Ohio State, Walker finished with 12 points, which isn’t terrible for a role player, but for Tyson we need more. What’s worse is that he was an extremely inefficient 5-for-15 from the field. 

Down by just one after an Ohio State free throw, Walker was fouled with six seconds remaining. Walker had a chance to put Michigan State basketball up by one, but he missed the first free throw, hit the second, and only tied the game up. Now, we know what wound up happening, OSU hit an off-balanced three as time expired to win, meaning even if Walker hit both free throws, MSU would have still lost. But, had Ohio State been losing rather than just tied with the safety net of overtime guaranteed, their play might have been different.

After spending so much of the season in the great section of this series, Walker finally finds himself at the opposite end. He will probably be the first to tell you he has to be better than he’s been. 

Ugly: Tom Izzo

As I eluded to to start this GGBU, Sunday’s loss against Ohio State gave plenty of ammunition to those who are ready to send Izzo into retirement. Izzo finally made the move for Booker to supplant Sissoko in the starting lineup, and he looked like a genius for the first half of the game. It obviously wouldn’t be difficult to get more production from the five spot because Sissoko was essentially providing none, but Booker looked really good.

Even Sissoko filled in next to him for a bit, and it seemed to work. 

But after having such success in the first half with Booker, Tom Izzo’s stubborn tendencies surfaced once again. To close the game out, Izzo went back to his struggling senior center, and it led to Michigan State basketball becoming extremely stagnant, and losing on a buzzer-beater. Booker looked great in his time, and finished the game with the highest +/- on the team. And yet, Izzo refused to go with his freshman down the stretch. This loss falls directly on Izzo and his refusal to adapt and put his loyalties aside.

This is now two games in a row that Izzo is in the ugly section. Unfortunately, I don’t see an end to his time down here either.