Road Trip Evidence Brutal for Michigan State

On By Littum

No. 9 Michigan State Spartans lost their second consecutive match and lost a close to the last minute to UCLA, 63-61.

MSU had a chance to take the lead late, but Jaxon Kohler traveled after an offensive rebound. Eric Diley Jr. knocked in a tough set -up to give the UCLA lead, which was the nail in the coffin.

Tom Izzo’s chances of tying Bob Knights Big Ten -Winner record will have to wait. The Spartans lost both matches on their west coast road trip.

What did we learn about this team as it has now tumbled twice in a row?

We already knew this, but this team really struggles to shoot the ball. The spartans’ free-throw and 3-point percentage difference is confusing. They seem to have no problem with knocking down shots on the line but can’t connect from deep.

Jaden Akins had one of his better games in a while. He was instrumental in cutting into a double-digit bruins and finally taking back that lead. He was confident and connected to his shots from beyond the arch.

This game Maybe Izzo has shown who his “go -to” scorer is. If Akins can build from this game, you can expect No. 3 to be the “guy” in close games in the future.

MSU needs Jeremy fearing that Jr. is more aggressive. He is sometimes passive, which removes opportunities to score in the half -lane. If he can put more pressure on the edge, he can make mistakes for himself or open things to his teammates.

This team was swallowed with basketball on the road trip. Admittedly, UCLA is a good defensive team, but the Spartans had too many unforeseen revenue. No team can win by beating itself, and MSU did that many times.

MSU’s defense slipped up a bit on a road trip against UCLA and USC, but still played well in general. The Spartans have to defend guards better than they did on the trip and put their hands on shooters more consistently.

The toughest stretch of Michigan State’s season is still coming, so hopefully for the Spartans they can quickly learn from this brutal two-game stretch west.

There is still a lot of talent on this team and the other half against UCLA was encouraging in a tough environment. Substitutes, knock down a few more shots, watch out for basketball, and things get back on track.

However, the tough opponents do not stop as Oregon comes to East Lansing on Saturday.

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