Michigan State Collapses in Second Half, Lets it Slip Away
For most of the game, it looked like Michigan State would prove many people wrong Thursday night. Even in one of the Spartans' worst seasons, they were showcasing why so many boast about Big Ten basketball.
I thought maybe MSU shouldn't have been slotted in the First Four; maybe they deserved slightly more respect. Maybe they were better than Syracuse or Utah State; two teams ranked ahead of them in the field of 68.
But I digress because the First Four is exactly where Michigan State belonged. It turns out the Spartans weren't ready for the bright lights and came up well short in the closing minutes against UCLA.
"It is what it is, it's a shame … I felt we played some of our best offensive basketball of the year," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
It was a fitting end for a flawed team who seemed tired and tight with a Rocket Watts air ball to start overtime and an errant miss by Aaron Henry to end regulation.
After controlling majority of the contest and leading by 14-points, Michigan State gave it away. They experienced costly turnovers, were out-hustled, and the outstanding ball movement that gave MSU its large lead disappeared.
"We didn't deserve to win at the end … you lose games. We said all along our margin for error is very slim … boy, that first half, even part of the second; I thought we moved the ball so well and played really good basketball," said Izzo. "We made a couple of mistakes right before the half; we were supposed to switch, and we didn't switch … you don't have many margins for error when you are just a good basketball team, which we are."
Fans will remember this Spartan team for its perseverance, its marquee victories against Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan, for Aaron Henry's heroics, Joshua Langford's leadership, and extending the NCAA tournament streak.
Above all else, MSU will be remembered for not having enough in the tank. At times, Michigan State was a well-oiled machine, yet more often than not, they were disconnected, unfocused, and unable to really put it all together.
Unfortunately for Spartan Nation, Thursday night was no different.
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