Michigan State's Carson Cooper, left, pumps his fist after time runs out in the Spartans win over Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sense of Urgency Heightened for Cooper, MSU

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Feb 23, 2026 5:57 AM ET

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- There are not many opportunities for Michigan State to get better.

The Spartans didn't play up to their standard against Ohio State on Sunday. No. 15 MSU pieced together a 66-60 victory, but the mood in the locker room was downtrodden. Teams with Final Four aspirations should expect better from themselves than close games at home against an NCAA Tournament bubble team that was missing its second- and third-leading scorer.

Carson Cooper was one guy who did play well, though. Michigan State needed him to fill into Jaxon Kohler's shoes a little bit, as Kohler was limited to just 17 minutes due to foul trouble, and he did that. Cooper scored a career-high 20 points (7-for-10 field goals, 6-for-6 free throws); he also grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

"We're getting into the nitty-gritty of the season now," Cooper said. "There's no time for relaxing and no time to get worse. It's always gotta be an uphill battle."

Watch Carson Cooper here:

More from Cooper, Looming Challenges for MSU

Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's not going to get any easier for MSU. The Spartans only have to go to... *checks notes* Mackey Arena to take on No. 7 Purdue on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Peacock). Michigan State has lost seven straight games at that venue, with the last win coming in February 2014.

There's also a road game at Indiana, which is no easy win, and then a road game at No. 1 Michigan to end the regular season. Then there's the Big Ten Tournament, which can last one day, but it can also last four days. Then, it's March Madness, where you truly are what you are. MSU doesn't seem to be that satisfied with what they are at the moment.

"If we're gonna play like that when one of their better guys is hurt, or if we play a game like this on the road, or don't have the Izzone, or don't home-crowd advantage, we're gonna get a reality check when we go play these next two games on the road," Cooper said.

It would be unwise to say the sky is falling, though. Michigan State just showed that it can dominante when things are clicking against UCLA, and that overtime win over Illinois (still ranked fourth in the NET after losing to UCLA) still holds a lot of weight on MSU's resume. Thursday at Purdue will help show the mental toughness of the Spartans some more, as it will probably be the most hostile atmosphere Michigan State will experience.