Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 73-55 win over Rutgers in what will be known as the Steven Izzo game
1. MSU has some shortcomings, but pluckiness isn't one of them. That was enough against Rutgers.
EAST LANSING – If, on your Bingo card, you had Steven Izzo scoring his first career bucket on a fadeaway baseline floater over a defender after a between-the-legs dribble and drive toward the basket in a game MSU once trailed in the second half against Rutgers … well, bingo.
I did not.
Somehow this game became THE Steven Izzo game, ending with his teammates mobbing him and Tom Izzo almost in tears watching the final seconds as the fans at Breslin Center chanted his son’s name.
The good thing about facing Rutgers is that even when it feels like things aren’t going well, it’s 22-22 just before halftime. You’re OK.
Like most of Michigan State’s Big Ten schedule ahead, the Scarlet Knights have a crippling flaw that limits them. In their case, they can’t shoot. And eventually it catches up to them, especially on the road.
What we’re still trying to figure out is how much the Spartans’ flaws are going to limit them. They didn’t in Sunday’s 73-55 home win over Rutgers, because, like all but about three other Big Ten teams, Rutgers’ shortcomings are greater than MSU’s and more pronounced on the road.
This was a game the Spartans should win, but Rutgers is also a team that isn’t going to wither, a team you have to take it from. They’re not going to stop defending and rebounding. You can’t stop playing with grit and intelligence and as much pace as you can in a game that rarely allows for it.
MSU won this game with its defense — and Rutgers’ poor shooting — at the end of the first half, not allowing the Scarlet Knights a field goal for the final 6:10 before halftime, and with a four-minute second-half spurt that turned the game from 36-35 Rutgers to 54-36 MSU. It made that run beginning with two strong buckets from Malik Hall, with a couple transition baskets — 3s from Tyson Walker and Tre Holloman — and with a change at center, with Carson Cooper providing good hands to catch and dunk, defensive rebounding and the willingness to take a full-speed knee to the stomach to draw a charge. By then, the Spartans were rolling. They came up with seven straight stops during that 19-0 stretch. Some misses by Rutgers, but also some exceptional defense.
MSU again showed resolve it didn’t early in the season, but did, for example, in the second half against Indiana State, and did a couple times at Illinois, despite the defeat. A lack of pluckiness is not one of this team’s limitations. That ought to get MSU through most of its Big Ten schedule. We’ll learn more about the rest of the Spartans’ makeup in games at Wisconsin, home against Illinois and at Purdue, and perhaps a couple other times, less foreseen.
MSU right now needs wins. They started down that road with how they played on Sunday.
2. Some decisions to make at center
If possessions matter in college basketball, you can’t give up some of the fumbled rebounds and catches and empty post touches MSU is getting with its starting center. Not if he’s not giving you considerably more in other ways than the others at his position.
This game turned while Carson Cooper was in the game in the second half — as soon as he checked in — and partly because of him. His catch and dunk. His three rebounds during that span. The charge he took, with zero regard for his body.
Jaxon Kohler then entered the game and scored his first bucket since coming back from a foot injury, a post move that wasn’t anything cute but also isn’t in the arsenal of MSU’s two other big men.
When Mady Sissoko returned, be played with vigor. With one high-scooping rebound, with a dunk — after a catch. All good stuff. But with Kohler back and Cooper’s more welcoming hands, MSU should analyze what it’s really getting out of these guys and disperse the minutes accordingly.
3. Freshman thoughts – the Rutgers edition
Coen Carr made a statement in the second half Sunday. He also learned a lesson from the first — if you give up a back-door bucket in a tight game, you’re not going to stay on the court. That’s the sort of accountability freshmen have felt at MSU for the last 25 years. That’s what creates the second-response from Carr. And prevents situations like with Michigan and freshman Jett Howard a year ago, when missed block-outs and poor defense had zero repercussions. And the team paid for it.
Carr, who played just two minutes in the first half, played eight in the second, with three rebounds, one strong on the offensive end, and five points. He was a force. Tom Izzo said before the game that he wants to play Carr more. I believe that. I also believe he’s not going to sacrifice Carr’s development and accountability to do so. We’ve seen that over time with young players.
Xavier Booker played early and twice in the first 10 minutes Thursday. Then not again until garbage time. The game state didn’t allow for his return earlier. He’s not a plus-player yet. So you’re getting him minutes for opportunity and development and to manage your roster. And all that is important. But when you have to win the game, you can’t go to him right now.
I think everyone understands that — Booker, his teammates, the coaches and MSU’s fans.
When Booker got back in at the end, he made a 3 and grabbed a rebound and was as tantalizing as ever. MSU’s got to keep giving him time when it can, until he can reward the Spartans for it.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball beats Rutgers and Steven Izzo scores: 3 quick takes
