Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. slaps hands with fans after the Spartans overtime win over Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Offensive Improvements Helping Prepare MSU for Postseason

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Mar 3, 2026 7:00 AM ET

For most of the season, it has seemed like Michigan State's offense may be the thing that could place a ceiling on itself.

MSU's offense has routinely been ranked in the 40s at KenPom this season. That's not a bad place to be, necessarily, but that's not where true top-tier teams have sat. There hasn't been a national champion that hasn't finished with a top-10 offense at KenPom since UConn won the title in 2014 as a 7-seed.

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Calling the Spartans' offense top-tier would be ambitious, but it certainly must improve. Michigan State's stingy defense has been a major factor for several different reasons this season, but the stats say that MSU is getting it done more often on the other end of the court now.

It's been that way ever since the Spartans seemed to bottom out a bit at Wisconsin on Feb. 13, getting blown out on the road, 92-71. Michigan State has won four straight games since that point. According to Torvik, MSU has been the No. 3 team in the entire country since Feb. 14. That includes the 13th-best offense (and the No. 6 defense). Before that point, the Spartans had been ranked 49th offensively on the site.

What it Means for MSU

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A big reason why there's been that uptick in offense has been an uptick in Michigan State's shooting capabilities. The Spartans have shot above 42% from three across their last four games, which have all been wins. Chances are that MSU can't sit at that percentage every single game, but it shows a capability to sit at a higher percentage over more than one or two games.

Several different players are emerging as shooters. Kur Teng just hit six threes against IU, Jordan Scott has been at 45% from deep throughout conference play, Jaxon Kohler just his three three-pointers, and Jeremy Fears Jr. has also been shooting it better as of late.

The biggest remaining question for MSU is whether it can take down one of the nation's truly elite teams. Michigan State showed it is capable by being there until the final moments against both No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Michigan, but losses are still losses, at the end of the day, and both of those games were at home. The Spartans will have to beat one of these teams at some point on a road or neutral court.

Keeping that same level of intensity on the interior is still paramount, though. Against Duke, MSU only made 29.5% of its shots inside the arc, which is the lowest percentage of the season. Against Michigan, the Spartans' 17.4% three-point percentage was the second-lowest of the season. Finding and then maintaining that balance is how Michigan State gives itself its best shot at the end.