Has 3-Point Shooting Come Back to Haunt MSU?
The Michigan State Spartans held on to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes to resume Big Ten Conference play on Friday. While another victory was added to the column, MSU might run into an old problem that fans were hoping that the program would shake.
The Spartans started 0-of-6 from range in Friday's contest. As the game went on, MSU found ways to get its key players the basketball and put up points, since the accuracy beyond the line was poor.
Ending the game going 3-of-18 from deep, a 16.7% success rate, MSU faltered once more from adding points from 3-point shooting. Luckily, OSU was not stellar in that department either, but did put up better numbers than MSU, draining seven of its 27 attempts.
This issue has been circling the Spartans since the beginning of the season, as its 3-point shooting has not been among the Big Ten Conferences best. After the victory, MSU ranks at the bottom of the conference, averaging 5.6 3-pointers made per game in 20.1 attempts.
As the Big Ten Conference play continues down the stretch, MSU will need to figure out its path to victories if their 3-point shooting isn't getting the job done. Though the Spartans had their struggles, Coach Tom Izzo had the upmost confidence in his young players following the victory.
"We went on an 8-0 run, we didn't turn the ball over the last 8 minutes of the game, we made some big free throws," Izzo said. "I'm really proud of my team, because Ohio State has been playing pretty good. Crowd really got into it once they cut the lead. I thought we had numerous guys step up."
Junior guard Tre Holloman, redshirt freshman guard Jeremey Fears Jr. and senior guard Jaden Akins all stepped up when they needed to, bringing in MSU's three 3-pointers. Between the three, 23 points were dropped.
Going forward for MSU, its next opponent is the Washington Huskies. While the Huskies are 1-2 in conference play so far this season, Washington has found a way to make more triples than MSU has, which could serve as an advantage for the Huskies if the Spartans aren't able to bounce back in the 3-point shooting department.
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Dominic Minchella holds a communications degree from Eastern Michigan University. He is a former MLB writer and joins our team ad an NFL/College team reporter on Sports Illustrated