Why MSU's Loss to Wisconsin Could Have Been for the Best
Make no mistake about it -- Michigan State wasn't happy to have lost its Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup with Wisconsin on Saturday.
This is a program that prides itself in banners, whether regular season, conference tournament or national. Any opportunity to cut the nets is one Michigan State chases in March.
But this team also knows there's a bigger picture.
The clock is ticking for Tom Izzo, and each passing season without a second national title seems to carry more and more weight as the window closes for the program to be able to hang another national championship banner under the 30-year Spartan head coach.
Michigan State is likely going to be a 2-seed when the bracket is announced this evening, and that very well could have been the case even if the Spartans had won the weekend in Indianapolis.
The difference is that now, the Spartans may have gained some valuable lessons they wouldn't have gotten with a Big Ten Tournament title.
"The losing locker room was not good, but it was not bad," Izzo said after Saturday's loss. "It was more cheerful and more -- they knew some mistakes they made, and I knew some mistakes I made, and we shared that together and explained why things have to be the way they have to be."
There weren't an alarming amount of mistakes that Michigan State made in its loss to the Badgers, but in a game where it all came down to one possession, each one proved to be significant.
"Obviously, we wanted to win this Big Ten Tournament Championship, but it just shows that the little stuff matters," said redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. "Going into next week when you play in March Madness, every possession matters no matter who you're playing, what team you're playing. You can't overlook no opponent."
Going into the NCAA Tournament riding a 10-game win streak would have been great momentum for Michigan State, but sometimes a tough loss can be the motivation a team needs.
Just look at the Spartans' upset loss to Indiana last month, -- their last loss prior to Saturday -- which fueled an eight-game win streak for the Green and White, a run that allowed them to capture the Big Ten regular season title.
"This game is going to give us a fire," said junior forward Jaxon Kohler. "It's going to give us a fire, and it's going to give us a hunger for what we got to do in this tournament. And ... it's unfortunate that we couldn't get that win, but on the positive side to that, it's going to develop a fire in us.
"And it's going to develop a sense of urgency that we need to go into this next tournament and not make the small mistakes that led us to not winning this game. And so, I think that could be a more useful thing for us is a fire."
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
