Keys to an MSU Victory Against Stanford
The Michigan State Spartans are coming off a huge victory that improved their young season record to 3-1. The Spartans will have their hands full again when they play the Southern Conference's second-place Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday.
In their last game against Bowling Green, the Spartans put up 43 points in both halves. Senior guard Jaden Akins was the top scorer in that game for MSU, dropping 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Spartans will be looking for more of that performance from Akins and the rest of the team going into Tuesday's game.
MSU collectively had 42 rebounds, which was one less than its rebound total when playing Kansas, the only team they have lost to this year. The Spartans vastly improved their shot percentage, though, from their Kansas game, ending the game against Bowling Green with a 45.8 field goal percentage.
The team saw more from its starting five compared to the game against Kansas, with four of the five men scoring double digits and more. Junior forward Carson Cooper and sophomore forward Coen Carr once again contributed coming off of the bench for MSU, with Cooper dropping 12 and Coen with 11.
Going into Tuesday's game, MSU will look to continue its shot percentage climb, especially when it comes to taking and making three-point shots. Against Bowling Green, MSU made four out of 20 3-point shots. While that number does not jump off the page, the Spartans made up for the lack of 3-point success by hitting its 2-pointers.
But the shooting from beyond the arc must improve. The Spartans may get away with the lack of production from deep against Stanford, but once conference play begins, it won't fare well.
Coach Tom Izzo addressed what he is looking for out of his players going forward, especially when holding a lead late into the game.
"I thought we found a way to win by D'ing up a little bit better near the end," Izzo said after the game. "With Jaden getting 12 rebounds, Jace (Richardson) making a big play when he needed it, Tre (Holloman) making a couple of plays. You know our big struggle tonight was the coverage that we bestowed upon them, so we gotta do better."
Izzo has three decades of experience coaching the Spartans and has found many years of success. If Izzo finds things he wants his team to improve on, and it does so in the next game, MSU may be tough for its opponents all season long.
The Bulldogs have played close games against their opponents all season, so if the Spartans can drop the same numbers or more in each half as they did against Bowling Green, they will give themselves a chance to be victorious against Samford.
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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