Michigan State falls to the Buckeyes, 63-54. Unofficial box score here.
Even more so than the Iowa and Penn State losses, this stands out as the most disappointing loss of the season. MSU appeared to be building momentum going into postseason play. They came out and played very well for nearly 30 minutes tonight. I wasn’t able to see the first half, but they built an 8-point lead on the strength of 3-point shooting and good defense.
It was back and forth in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but MSU played well enough to hold their lead. They found ways to beat the Ohio State zone for easy baskets near the hoop and scored a number of second-chance points. Raymar Morgan was back to playing to his ability, finishing the game with 19 points on 9-13 shooting.
Then Ohio State put the press on–and kept it on. MSU led 45-35 with 11 minutes to play. From that point on, they were outscored 28-9. Seven of those 9 points were scored by Morgan.
Having not seen the first half, I don’t know how much Ohio State pressed early and how well MSU responded. The announcers seemed to indicated they’d done a pretty good job against it. In the final 11 minutes, though, MSU couldn’t have done a worse job. Not only did they turn it over multiple times, they made no attempt to attack it for easy baskets. When they did get the ball downcourt, they’d dribble and pass with no purpose for another 15 seconds before trying to get off a last-second shot.
If you’re going to get pressed, you can’t afford to be passive. The defense is going to pick up some turnovers. So you have to attack the press for some easy baskets. Otherwise, there’s no downside to pressing. Other than fatigue, I don’t know why Ohio State wouldn’t press for 40 minutes when these two teams play on Thursday in Indianapolis.
Izzo put all three point guards out there to try to shore up the ball-handling. I think this was a mistake. When they’re all out there, none of them takes initiative. Instead, they look for each other and pass the ball back and forth with no purpose. We have the quickest guard in the league in Kalin Lucas; why not let him try to beat the press with the dribble a few times? Plus, with all three points out there, you don’t have the wing players to convert baskets if you do break the press.
In his postgame radio interview, Izzo said he wasn’t sure whether to blame the players, himself, or the refs. There’s enough blame to go all around. The players couldn’t sustain their intensity for the full 40 minutes. The refs certainly didn’t help by suddenly calling fouls on minimal contact midway through the second half. But, in the end, MSU simply needed to convert a couple baskets against the press to prevent Ohio State from seizing the lead and the momentum. There was no evidence Izzo had a play designed for the players to beat the press. So that’s on him.
Notes from the box score:
- 21 turnovers in a roughly 60-possession game (35.0%). And they still could have won. It wasn’t even the turnovers created by the press that hurt the most. It was the shot-clock violations (4 of them, I think) where they couldn’t create a shot even once they got into the half-court offense.
- They wasted a great rebounding performance. They pulled down 33 rebounds to Ohio State’s 20. (Once again, the official box score is delayed after MSU loses, so I can’t calculate the offensive/defensive rebounding percentages. Clearly, this is part of some conspiracy specifically aimed at me.)
- Once again, Jamar Butler came through for the Buckeyes. He scored 20 points on 11 FG attempts and 8 FT attempts. That a PPWS of 1.35. The rest of the Buckeyes put up a combined PPWS of just 1.06.
- Ohio State was efficient in creating and converting 2-point shots: They made 20 of 33 attempts from inside the arc (60.6%).
- The three MSU point guard combined to make just 3 of 16 FG attempts.
From an analytical standpoint, I hate to read too much into 11 minutes of terrible play. But it’s hard not to feel like the way MSU blew this game has reversed whatever momentum the Spartans had going for postseason play. The tone of Izzo’s voice after the game was one of despair.
If there’s a silver lining, I guess it’s that MSU now has four full days to figure out what they did wrong today and correct it. On the other hand, Ohio State has now seen exactly how to beat MSU and will do everything possible to replicate it on Friday and earn an NCAA tournament bid.
I guess losing a game in which we turned the ball over 21 times is a fitting end to this particular regular season. We can only hope the destiny of this team is not permanently shaped at this point. If it is, then there may only be 2 or 3 games left to play, as Izzo noted in his postgame comments.
>> The refs certainly didn’t help by suddenly calling fouls on minimal contact midway through the second half.
Same thing happened at Illinois, except they were at least calling it both ways (both teams were in the double-bonus relatively early in the second half after just 8 fouls combined in the first). Big Ten refs are aware that the foul rules don’t change at halftime, right?
Let’s face it….this group of Spartoon bballers have no passion or desire. Everyone, including my ten (10) year old daughter, knows that passion and desire, as much as talent, win games.
What a total collapse in the last 10 minutes of the game. Where was the coaching? It seems that Izzo goes to sleep in these games. I did not see any set plays or defense strategy to change the momentum of the Buckeyes onslaught. The ‘toons merely rolled over and let the wave wash them under.
The way they are playing, it will be one and done in both the Big Ten and the NCAAs. I thought Izzo was building an elite progam to compete with the Dukes and Kansas’ of the world. Instead, we see UNC, Duke, Kansas, UCLA performing as they have for the last twenty years and MSU still an “also ran”. With the exception of the starting Flint Five high schoolers, Izzo has done nothing (i.e. no Big Ten Championships since 1999 and 2000) with the talent he has recruited in eight years. Since 1999 and 2000, IOWA, Illinois, OSU and it now appears Wisconsin, have won 2 Big Ten Championships…..So what make MSU more special????
Tom…..suggestion here…..how about recuriting another great High School state championship team to play at State……maybe then you can return to the glory days…otherwise, you have condemned MSU to ge a medicore program…..
Tman,
What Spartan fan calls their own team the ‘toons? I call shenanigans.
If MSU is a “mediocre program”, what does that make the rest of the Big Ten? The only team that has been consistently more successful in-conference in recent years has never done anything in the tourney.
What about 11 consecutive NCAA tournament bids? If AZ does
not make it into the dance this year we are in an even smaller
group. What about 4 final fours (and 5 elite eights, losing to
eventual nc Texas)? What about 300 wins in 13 years of coaching?
I agree that Tman is NOT a spartan fan, he is welcome to his opinion but most people in the country would not trade ANY coach for Izzo.
Look at teams which were in the national title game and could not get back to the dance the next year (both FL and OSU in
danger of that this year).
Mostly look at the integrity and class Izzo has. He represents the university well in so many arenas as do the large majority of his players. Look at the Detroit Free Press site, best photos of Izzo parts one and two. One thing that
struck me was the body language of his interaction with his
players over multiple years. Players who hate a coach yelling at them or don’t respect, admire, trust their coach don’t hug him, don’t bend down to listen to him, don’t maintain a small interpersonal space. If his players truly didn’t like and trust him, they would be backing off in the photos and in game sideline interactions.
Players know when they come to MSU that they will
have the opportunity to learn, grow, and get better.
No one else has announcers repeat (over and over) that every four year player for Izzo has played in a final four.
We do want to win the B10 season but no one wanted it more than Izzo and the team.
Go green, go white!