Couch: MSU's center play at Nebraska intensifies need for Jaxon Kohler and reason to give Xavier Booker a look

LINCOLN, Neb. – We don’t know how much sophomore Jaxon Kohler can actually change Michigan State’s basketball team when he returns from a foot injury around Christmas. We don’t know if freshman Xavier Booker could eventually make things any better if he begins to see the court again.

What we do know is what happened at the center position for MSU in Sunday night’s 77-70 loss at Nebraska warrants considering other options. And, frankly, Tom Izzo did, opting to use senior forward Malik Hall at center for 15 minutes, including down the stretch.

Going small is one alternative for this team — a different look to throw at an opponent, one that could allow MSU to get more of its backcourt players on the floor together and force an opposing big man to move around to defend Hall. “When they put Malik at the 5 … that puts a lot of stress on your defense,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said.

It doesn’t solve the issue at hand — that the Spartans’ two actual centers, senior Mady Sissoko and sophomore Carson Cooper, were beaten up on the glass and sometimes absent in protecting the rim. And MSU lost largely because of it. And when the Spartans couldn’t get stops at the end, they could’ve used a a sizable presence they could rely on.

Sissoko and Cooper combined for two points and three rebounds in 25 minutes, while their counterpart, Nebraska’s Rienk Mast — a graduate transfer from Bradley, the sort of big man transfer Izzo passed on to ride with his guys — racked up 14 rebounds to go along with eight points and six assists.

One game on its own in college basketball does not make for a problem. But when it’s one game that you really wanted, a conference game against a team whose goals are beneath your expectations, a get-right game against a team equally scuffling, and you actually play as well offensively as you have all season at every other position …

You can’t shrug this one off.

“I’m just disappointed that … (when) guys get opportunities, they better jump on them,” Izzo said. “If not, they disappear. And tonight, I just thought our bigs did not play very well.

“We did a helluva job (guarding) those back doors and then our centers got lazy ball (with ball) pressure and (Nebraska) got three (back doors) to start the second half and made nine of their first 11 shots. So we'll be doing some restructuring, I guess. But really disappointed.”

Izzo admittedly doesn’t have a ton options until Kohler returns. But what he does have is the player every fan would have sold a kidney to see Sunday night: Booker. You know, the blue-chip recruit with length and skills for days, whose lack of strength and motor have kept him out of the rotation since before Thanksgiving.

Playing time for Booker is coming, Izzo said Sunday.

“We put him on the scout team and he really made some progress in the last two weeks,” Izzo said. “I almost put him in (Sunday). It’s just that center (Mast) was so physical … and when they went with Juwan Gary (for 36 minutes at power forward) … we didn't think Book could cover him. But Book will get his chance this week, because there's going to be some rotating.

“But he's not the savior. Listen, people have got to chill out on Book. Because he's a great kid, he's doing everything he can do. He just, it's going to take him some time. Just like a lot of other people. He's learning how to play harder. I've been really pleased with his practices and I told you when I wasn’t. And you're looking for (something) because the guys that should be doing it are not doing it and I am looking for the same thing. This week, Book will get more of a chance and we're going to start shuffling a little bit.”

Most of the frustration surrounding Booker being on the bench is the fault of misplaced hype. Guys like me, who watched him play in high school and over the summer and knew he wasn’t ready to be an instant star, didn’t see the extent of how much he still had to learn to just contribute. It’s hard to see the motor issues in a high school game or at the Moneyball Pro-Am. The recruiting services saw his length and skill and created expectations with their rankings of Booker that deserve an apology and an explanation, if 247sports and Rivals and such want to be taken seriously as high school talent evaluators. The one-time No. 1 ranking in the 2023 class was unfair to Booker, though probably improved his NIL deal with MSU’s SD4L collective.

Booker still has a chance to be really good. He has athletic gifts and skills that should make him stand out eventually. It’s time to see if any of those gifts and skills can help him make a difference now. Maybe he’ll get pummeled and take his lumps. Oh, well. Maybe it’ll cost MSU a game or two or more. So be it. If Sissoko is going to go scoreless and if Cooper isn't going to get a single rebound and if the guy they’re guarding is going to dominate the glass and create offense the way Mast did, then why not at least 10 minutes of Booker? It can’t be any worse overall, even if it’s different.

I still believe in the long-term upside of Cooper, who’s been a fairly good rebounder this season and is as self-aware as any player on MSU’s roster. He knows he still needs to get stronger and develop an offensive post game. But he’s got good hands, decent feel and runs the court well. And he’s 6-foot-11. He’s just not yet able to counter a guy like Mast, who’s three years older. There will be other problematic matchups for Cooper this season. But he’s where he should be in his development. And well ahead of his profile as a recruit.

Cooper being on the right developmental track doesn’t do a ton for MSU now. Nor does Booker’s timeline for being an impact player. That brings us to Kohler. Perhaps never before has so much hope been tied to an injured sophomore who scored 3 points a game as a freshman.

Izzo has begun speaking about Kohler almost like a gift coming at Christmas. Not by name, but by date. “I think some of (the shooting struggles and getting good shots) is going to be alleviated at least by Christmas, right after Christmas,” Izzo said. “It’s going to be a little easier to throw it in (the post) and have some offensive (punch).”

The anticipation of Kohler’s return from a foot injury is centered around need, but also what MSU’s coaches and teammates saw from him this summer — a guy who’d reshaped his body, who’d been humbled by his first season, who was driven to have a big sophomore season and whose offensive skills set him apart from Sissoko and Cooper. He’s a threat to score in the post. He’s sees the court and the game the way MSU’s guards do. Izzo, over the summer, was trusting him taking outside shots, too.

RELATED: Couch: MSU's Jaxon Kohler changed his body to change his game after a humbling freshman season

Having him back could have ripple effects offensively throughout the lineup.

“It'll help,” Tyson Walker said Sunday night. “Jaxon can score the ball inside and out. It'll help the way people cover us. So I’m just excited for him to get back. He's been working hard to get back.”

There’s a lot riding on Kohler’s return. It’s the Spartans’ best chance at becoming something a little different than they are. Because what’s becoming clear — and was hammered home Sunday — is that what they are presently isn’t enough, even if it’s not the same problem or excuse or bad break every game. I’ve covered teams before where the margins are so thin it always seems like one thing — an illness (against Wisconsin), several lucky long 3s (by Nebraska), a few possessions late in the game that didn’t go their way (against Arizona), a couple missed open shots (pick any of MSU’s five losses) — are just a bit too much to overcome.

After watching MSU’s centers get pushed around by a big man transfer at Nebraska, it’s easy to look at Izzo and wonder if he should have dabbled in the portal at that position, perhaps gone after a one-year grad transfer like Mast. But it’s only fair to see Kohler’s impact before making that critique. There was no way to know Kohler was going to get hurt right before the season.

“(Kohler) is going to be definitely a different outlet for us,” said point guard A.J. Hoggard, who put together his second straight strong performance Sunday, only for it again to not be enough. “Teams are going to adjust to us a lot differently when he's back. I can't really speak to it too much. I've got to worry about what's in front of me right now.”

That’s sixth-ranked Baylor on Saturday in Detroit. The Spartans’ last chance at getting their resume a marquee early season win. An opponent with an emerging 7-foot center and plenty of other size.

They’ll need better from Sissoko and Cooper to have any chance.

“They’ve just got to play better and play a little smarter, be able to bang a little bit harder than we have been,” Hall said. “They’re two really great guys and I love them. I'm with them every day. But we have to make sure that we're doing better. Just exerting ourselves and exerting our will on other people and not just like trying to play reactive.”

RELATED: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 77-70 loss at Nebraska

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball needs Jaxon Kohler and to give Xavier Booker a look