5 Observations: Michigan State Suffers Another Setback vs. Iowa
Entering the night on a three-game winning streak, Michigan State men's basketball had a chance to take another step towards a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament with a home matchup against Iowa on Tuesday.
Instead, the Spartans suffered a damaging 78-71 defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes, which brings into question the "progress" MSU has made over the past several weeks. Michigan State led 27-24 with 6:16 left in the first half tonight, but was outscored 21-6 over those final six minutes and entered halftime with a 45-33 deficit.
The Hawkeyes scored the first four points of the second half to quickly extend their lead to 16 points, before MSU found some answers offensively against Iowa's 2-3 zone. The Spartans scored 24 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes, but couldn't get enough stops defensively to climb all the way back. Michigan State got to within five points with 2:30 left in the game, but the comeback ran out of steam.
With this result, the Spartans fall back to fifth place in the Big Ten standings, a half-game behind both Northwestern and Wisconsin. Here are five observations from a disappointing night in East Lansing...
1.) Iowa shreds MSU's defense early
As always, the Hawkeyes one of the most prolific offenses in the Big Ten and the country into East Lansing and Michigan State's defense was shredded in the first half. Iowa shot 57% from the floor, 44% from beyond the 3-point line and 90% from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. The Hawkeyes 45 first-half points were the second-most the Spartans have allowed all season.
Michigan State was better in the second half, holding Iowa to 12-of-27 from the floor and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc after halftime, but the Spartans couldn't get enough defensive stops to make up for the 16-point deficit they put themselves. While MSU defended the 3-point line well (Iowa finished 4-of-13), the Spartans got shredded on the interior, giving up a whopping 40 points in the paint.
2.) Hoggard wakes up after poor first half
A.J. Hoggard had one of those halves in the first 20 minutes tonight, missing all four of his first-half shot attempts (two of which were layups), and was limited to two assists and one rebound with a turnover. It was the kind of half we've seen all too often from Hoggard, but he clearly got a very specific message from head coach Tom Izzo at halftime.
After the break, Hoggard got to the rim four times in the opening second minutes and converted all four layups to get himself going. The senior was very good in the second half, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor on his way to 15 points, and adding a pair of assists and rebounds — yet, it was too little, too late. Put simply, it's inexcusable for a senior to have those kinds of first halves this frequently.
3.) Mady Sissoko is unplayable right now...
Listen, I'm sympathetic to some of the personal things Mady Sissoko has been going through over the past several weeks, but the Spartans' senior center is borderline unplayable right now. Sissoko picked up two quick fouls in the opening minutes tonight (the second of which was admittedly highly-questionable), and sat the remainder of the first half. But the senior was out there to start the second half and immediately got beat for back-to-back Iowa buckets, and then fumbled a lead pass which should have been a wide open dunk. Instead, by the time Sissoko corralled the ball, he was too far under the basket and had to kick it out.
Right now, I'm just not sure what Sissoko brings to this team. Carson Cooper is the more consistent defender and rebounder, and even with as limited as the sophomore is on offense he's less of a detriment on that end of the floor than Sissoko. In fairness to Mady, none of Michigan State's post players were very good tonight.
4.) Not enough from Jaden Akins
There were plenty of opportunities against Iowa's 2-3 zone for outside jumpers, and for the most part Michigan State made the Hawkeyes pay. The Spartans shot 10-for-20 from the 3-point line, but the notable absence was Jaden Akins. The junior has had several excellent games in recent weeks, but the consistency has eluded Akins throughout the year. Tonight, he shot just 2-of-7 from the floor and was held to six points. That shouldn't happen against a team like Iowa which struggles defensively. To his credit, Akins was tied for the team lead in assists tonight with five, but Michigan State needs more from him if a run is going to happen in March.
5.) Two steps forward, one step back...
...that's been the theme for this Michigan State team ever since its resounding victory over Baylor in Detroit. The Spartans had won eight of its last 10 games heading into this one, but every time it seems like this team is starting to turn a corner they have an outing like this. It happened in back-to-back losses to Northwestern and Illinois in January, it happened on the road at Wisconsin, and again at Minnesota.
Michigan State has just struggled to stack more than two or three wins before suffering a defeat. In a lot of years, that's understandable in a league like the Big Ten, but this conference is not what it was five or six years ago. Heading into tonight, the Spartans had gotten themselves back into a three-way tie for third-place in the Big Ten, and were in a good spot to earn a double-bye in the conference tournament. This defeat puts a big damper on those hopes, especially with a road trip to Purdue coming soon.
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