The Tarheels dismantle the Spartans 98-63 in an 83-possession game. Official box score.
In terms of analyzing the full 40 minutes of the game, the Statsheet “Stat of the Day” sums things up neatly: “Michigan State did not beat North Carolina at any of the 4 factors.”
So let’s talk about the two halves of the game individually–and in reverse order. First, the second half: obviously, a complete debacle by any standard. MSU was outscored 45-24 and shot only 7-35 from the field. In Izzoesque fashion, the coach took the blame:
“Four games in seven days — the blame goes to me, not my players,” Izzo continued, referring mainly to last week’s Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where the Spartans played three games. “We were dead. We had no legs.”
To some extent Izzo is just doing what good coaches do: deflecting the blame to himself when his team has hit an emotional low. But I think there’s also truth to the fact that they didn’t have any legs left after coming out with a high level of intensity in the first half, only to fall behind by double digits.
Additionally, the environment at Ford Field didn’t help. The sparse crowd (relative to the size of the arena) never gave the team any kind of emotional lift. At one point in the second half, the crowd gave a Bronx cheer after a made field goal–something I’ve never witnessed in my years of attending MSU basketball games.
So we’ll give the team a gigantic pass on the final twenty minutes of the game.
Now to the first twenty minutes: Let me say, I’ve never been as proud to see my team fall behind by 14 points at halftime as I was last night. I thought MSU came out playing aggressively and confidently. They looked to attack the basket and made several very good passes to create easy baskets.
I’m thrilled that Raymar Morgan proved me wrong by scoring consistently against players of equal/greater talent. He scored 13 points in the first half on 6-9 shooting. His moves were more decisive than usual, as he kept the UNC defenders off balance.
And Chris Allen did exactly what he needed to, coming out of the gates looking for his shot. He also scored 13 points in the first half, knocking down all three of this 3-point attempts. (Is it just me, or is Allen a better shooter when he’s shooting over someone a little off balance than he is when he’s squared up on a open look?)
Delvon Roe once again was very impressive at less than 100%. He didn’t score in the game, but his first-half stat line was nevertheless indicative of all-around production: 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He definitely showed he could have been a major factor at UNC, had he not chosen to become a Spartan instead.
MSU trailed 53-39 at halftime; there were 40 possessions in the first half. So the offense was fairly solid, particularly in light of the 11 turnovers the team gave up (first half TO%=27.5%). They didn’t back down from playing an up-tempo game. That led to some turnovers that UNC converted into easy baskets, but I still thought it was the way to go. If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down playing your own game.
The bigger problem was at the other end of the court. Every time, MSU would make a couple nice offensive plays, North Carolina would take the ball down the court and hit a perimeter shot with seeming effortlessness. I commented to my friend David, who went to the game with me, that watching UNC is like watching an NBA team–but an NBA team that hustles. Everyone can hit the 15-foot jumper. Wayne Ellington scored 13 points on 6-10 shooting, and Ty Lawson and Danny Green combined to make 4 of 7 three-point attempts in the first half.
Meanwhile, MSU’s turnovers led to a field day for Ty Lawson in transition: 7 steals, 8 assists, and no turnovers for the full game.
And, of course, Tyler Hansborough was Tyler Hansborough: 25 points on 13 FG attempts and 11 rebounds on the night. For the most part, I thought MSU defenders guarded him about as well as they could have hoped to, but guarding a big man of his ability is too tall a task when you can’t focus your defense on him due to the quality of his supporting cast (if, in fact, the word “supporting” applies to anyone on UNC’s roster).
Meanwhile, the guy I pegged as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year struggled mightily. Kalin Lucas finished the night with just 6 points on 2-10 FG shooting (although he did put up a decent 5-1 assist-turnover ratio). I actually thought he looked pretty good in the first half, beating Lawson off the dribble several times. But once he got into the lane, he couldn’t shoot over the UNC big men and he had to kick the ball back out. Eventually, he got frustrated and started taking questionable shots. Korie Lucious did some of that in the second half, as well.
Coming full circle: If there was one thing that bothered me about the second-half performance, it was that the team stopped playing within the offense.
That’s all I’ve got on this one. The game was obviously a major disappointment, both in terms of on-court performance and the crowd environment. We can only hope the team has now hit rock bottom; there’s no place to go but up.
The journey up the mountain begins Sunday at 4 p.m. against Bradley. It’s a home game that will be televised on BTN.
P.S. To add injury to insult, Goran Suton is undergoing arthroscopic sugery on his knee today. Joe Rexrode reports the surgery is of a “diagnostic” nature; they want to figure out why the knee isn’t responding to treatment. Officially, they’re saying he’s out 2-4 weeks. That makes it a stretch that he’ll be back for the Texas game, which is 16 days from now. We can only hope he’ll be ready for Big Ten play, which starts exactly four weeks from last night.
Nice recap, I concur wholeheartedly.
[...] While many fans are upset and claiming that the loss is evidence of the program falling off, the more insightful MSU observers are quietly noting that the second-half of Wednesday’s loss shouldn’t stain anyone’s m…. [...]
The second half was atrocious as you note. I think there is some truth to the claim that we were out of gas – we had only two days to rest and prepare for the game after playing 3 games in 3 days. NC’s last game was 6 days ago. They had basically a week to rest and prepare, plus they are more talented and deeper. Add that combination up and it spells doom for us, especially considering we were at less than full strength.
I thought we played well in spurts in the first half but turnovers were a major problem. It looked to me like guys were rushing things a bit and as a result taking out-of-control, low-percentage shots, and we missed several point blank layups which could have kept the margin closer. Even during our good spurts, it seemed like the best we did was break even. They seemed to score effortlessly. Some of that was ridiculous 3 point shooting – several of their shots were uncontested simply because they came from WELL beyond the arc but went in anyway. Some of it was the turnovers that lead to easy baskets in transition.
I still find the Maryland game somewhat more disconcerting because we did not have the fatigue excuse in that one and they are nowhere near as good as UNC. We fell apart in the second half of that one too which I hope is not the beginnings of a trend. Most teams lay an egg or two a season so maybe that was ours.
I really hope Suton makes a full recovery and soon. Either that or I hope he is still eligible for a medical redshirt – otherwise it won’t make for a very fun senior year.
I pretty much agree with the recap. Spartans actually played well in the first half and then just went off a cliff in the second.
I think Delvon Roe might be my new favorite Spartan. Especially for a true frosh, you can just see how smart a basketball player he is out there.
Anyone else notice that since the Pitt win last March, State has been blown out in every big game against a ranked opponent in both basketball and football? Could we at least make these games competitive?
I remember the Illinois ’05 game where we kept it close for a while, then Illinois made 15 shots in a row, most of them tough, contested shots. I feel about the same way I did after that game: some days there’s just nothing you can do but tip your cap and hope you catch them on a better night the second time. (Really, the only difference is that instead of the opponent making 15 in a row, we just couldn’t get any open looks to fall. Fatigue probably has a lot to do with that.)
Disappointing, obviously, but it’s way too early to panic. Some days you just get run into the buzzsaw.
Half full or half empty? my glass is half empty on this one. I accept all the arguments — the team was tired, they ran into the best college team in history (call me crazy, but I suspect Williams will find a way to lose in March. he’s lost before with a handful of NBA players on his roster…). sometimes the shot just don’t fall, and so on — but I have an increasingly bad feeling about this team, based not only on last night, but on the games in florida as well.
1. the turnovers. still in the 20-25 a game range. How is that possible with two point guards on the court for half the game?
2. Player improvements. The inconsistency from game to game seems the same as last year. The hype in the preseason had it that the team had played together and worked extra hard all summer. I don’t see it.
3. the sense that the team is soft and easily outphysicalled (even though Burt and Hightower will always find a way to call 30% more fouls on MSU than on the other team). Against Maryland and again last night, the number of times MSU players got stripped of the ball, lost it in traffic or did not hold onto rebounds was really striking.
4. The absence of outside shooting. Unless I am wrong and the siophomores really have improved, this team has the weakest outside shooting of any Izzo team going back to the mid 1990s.
I hope I am wrong. Maybe the emergence of Roe and the return of Suton will make a big difference, though Suton’s status now looks very uncertain and I doubt he will make a contribution until late january at the earliest. But I went into the season thinking this could be a final 4 team. I now think this team will fight to finish third in the Big Ten ahead of Ohio State.
I think “Mark in DC” , “Chris” and “Hubert” have hit the nail on the head on this game and this team. The theme I am seeing from the comments is that State is on a downward trend.
This is evident in three areas: (1)Being “outphysicalled” , (2)Being “blown out” by teams with more athletes and (3)State seeming undisciplined and unready for games.
If we all look back to when Izzo teams were in the final four and playing for conference championships, we notice that they were physical, played tough defense and got stronger as the game went on. It is almost like the current team (and for that matter the last two years) is the complete opposite in these categories.
I have the feeling that Izzo had an “out of body” experience one year and came back with the philosophy that the way to win an NCAA Championship is to have short, fast players with physic and all you have to do is have a track meet up and down a 90 foot hardwood floor and wear the other team out. Let’s look at each and every one of the previous NCAA champions and I challenge all of you to find one, just one, champion that was built in this fashion or had these characteristics. You won’t and you can’t.
I do think, however, that Izzo has accomplished what he set out to create……..placing MSU into the top tier of college basketball and receiving the respect they should demand…..before anyone takes this as a compliment, I actually mean it as an insult. By this I mean, MSU has been rated in the last three years in the top 10 to start the season. They then slowly, an in some years more rapidly, begin a downward spiral in the ratings to where they end up as a top 20 program. That is exactly what is happening this year.
They started at 5, lose to a sub par Maryland team and then play number 1 UNC as a 12. At least Izzo is getting us to a more realistic rating sooner……as there is no way MSU will even be in the top 20 next week after this loss.
I will close with what I have said since the middle of last season…….if MSU is truly committed to having a top tier bball progam, then it is time for Izzo to be gone and for us to find a coach who can recruit tall, fast brusiers and who demands his players play mistake free for forty minutes……
4 games in 7 days is an unacceptable excuse….the spartans got their doors BLOWN OFF i laughed from the get go, cause i knew all you little spartan bastards thought your team had a chance but it wasnt even close!! back to the 4 games in 7 days…UNC did basically the same thing msu did playing 5 games in 10 days but they played good teams, like Kentucky, Notre Dame, and Oregon. and they most definitely didnt get dealt with by maryland, i mean Michigan should have beaten Maryland and that was in College Park one of the toughest places to play. Izzo is not that good anymore, he tears all of his players down and tries to build them back up, problem is, is that this group of kids is totally opposite than the Mateen Cleaves and Morris Petersons, and Jason Richardsons. izzo does an excellent job of recruiting but how long will it last with year after year taking this creme of the crop recruiting class and embaress them 6-8 times a year? GO BLUE and yes im totally biased!!
I find that the game was more about UNC than State. Sure everyone knows that they are the consensus No. 1 team, but they came out and dominated a solid team. The 2nd half featured numerous unforced turnovers, but I thought that a majority of the easy layups were created by perfect defense than bad point guard play. Ellington, Lawson, Hansborough and Green are NBA locks who played great. Their bench could finish in the top half of the ACC. Clearly, it’s not all UNC. Izzo has his work cut out for him, but I come away happy with seeing Raymar put together a good game against ridiculous talent and Allen finally regaining his stroke.
“Anyone else notice that since the Pitt win last March, State has been blown out in every big game against a ranked opponent in both basketball and football? Could we at least make these games competitive?”
I think you’re forgetting the Northwestern game. They were ranked at the time and are a pretty decent team. Dantonio and Narduzzi seem to really know how to defend a spread offense this last year.
Tman, I don’t understand your quote “get a coach who demands mistake free play for forty minutes” do you think Izzo tolerates mistakes and laughs them off?? And what team plays mistake free for an entire game?? not even UNC (who is the best team I’ve seen in a long time) is mistake free. Should Izzo take out every guy who makes a mistake and put them on the bench for the rest of the game?? This afternoon when the BTN shows our 99 game at UNC, I’m pretty sure I’ll see that team also turned the ball over and missed shots.
Again you seem to think there’s this great vault of talented coaches that we can just reach into and get, who exactly would be better for our program right now than Izzo, what coach has unlimited access to “tall, fast, bruisers” (who isn’t named Williams or Coach K)
Izzo has his flaws, and he’d be the first to admit it, and not only is your request illogical, it would never happen, Izzo isn’t going anywhere so why waste your time worrying about. Focus on enjoying this team, their hopeful improvement and talk of what they can do to improve.
Beat The Bradleys!!
Tman: Who would we get that’s even half the coach Izzo is, especially if we send the message that a coach with similar success could expect to be fired? Kentucky found that out recently, and they weren’t even as quick to pull the trigger on Tubby as you want to be here. Nebraska football had the same thing happen – they fired a coach for the ghastly sin of a 9-3 season (10-3 after the bowl, though he was canned before that), and they haven’t even reached those lofty heights since.
If Izzo got canned, within two years I guarantee you the only ones happy about it would be the program that hired him and everyone else in the Big Ten.
Witless chum,
Northwestern may have been ranked in the coaches poll, but they were unranked in the AP. The coaches polls are a joke because they don’t have time to put thought into there rankings as they are preparing for the next game (as they should be). Anyway, the point was the big games have been duds. The UM game was nice but they were a pretty sad team this year.
No bowl = start to troll.
Michigan State football had nine wins and gets a chance for a tenth on New Year’s Day. Spartan fans should see that as progress and be encouraged by the direction of the program. This is not and should not expect to be an elite team like Ohio State yet- give it time and we’ll see what happens.
The MSU basketball team is a consistent tournament competitor with a media-friendly coach. As such, they get a lot of preseason attention and praise- some warranted, some not. They are a solid squad, but they need to get healthy and find some more team dynamic to justify a ranking. There is no shame in losing to the #1 basketball team after a tough stretch of games. Basketball season is just beginning- I know I’m excited to see how things develop.
Go Green!
After re-reading your recap combined with analyzing the box score from this game, I feel a lot better about Monday night.
The MSU team playing in this tournament is not even close to our team in December. We we win? Yes we will. Why? Blind faith and a feeling that Lucas, Roe, Suton, Green and, x-factor will take care of business.
Go Green!
As a footnote, where is the weasel troll, “go blue” now? lol