Not too long ago, Michigan State was ranked in the Top 10 and led the Big Ten. Now, the slumping Spartans no longer hold a spot among the top five teams in the conference.
A loser of four of its last five games, No. 19 Michigan State will scrounge for a victory on Tuesday when it faces Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.
During their nosedive, the Spartans (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) have lost on the road to Rutgers and Penn State as well as at home to Wisconsin and Illinois.
Michigan State never held a lead in its 79-74 loss to the Fighting Illini on Saturday. The Spartans were within two points during crunch time but couldn’t finish off the comeback.
“We didn’t do a good enough job. So, all in all, very disappointed with our first half,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Second half, we score 52 points against the best defensive team in the league, and we only scored (58 for the game) at Penn State. I think there’s always times when you can learn from games. I don’t like learning from a loss, but I thought we learned something from a loss.”
Point guard Tyson Walker had his best outing of the season with 26 points and five assists in 26 minutes off the bench. The starting unit only had 40 points for the Spartans, who trailed 34-22 at halftime.
“I didn’t even know I had that many points until about like a minute left when I looked up,” Walker said. “The shots were just going. I work on those shots down there every day, so just taking them and the confidence is always there. So, there’s never a shot that I don’t think I can make.”
A couple of key players have not been making their shots lately. Freshman guard Max Christie has scored 10 or fewer points the last six games, and forward Gabe Brown has 10 points or fewer in nine of the last 10 games.
“You can’t be as good when your two best shooters are struggling,” Izzo said. “I think when you hit a three or when you get a dunk or when you do something, sure, it energizes everybody.”
Iowa (18-8, 8-7) has won four of its last five, including a 75-62 triumph at Ohio State on Saturday. Forward Keegan Murray led the way with 24 points and twin brother Kris Murray added 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Hawkeyes bounced back from an 84-79 home loss to Michigan two nights earlier.
“Michigan’s really good and we fought them hard,” coach Fran McCaffery said. “We knew that in less than 48 hours, we’d be here. You can’t worry about it, stay positive, stay connected, stay focused and you take a business-like approach to putting the gameplan together for this one.”
Keegan Murray has surpassed the 20-point mark in each of his last six outings. He is averaging a team-best 23.4 points.
“It’s not like he’s just scoring in the post, making threes or just making pull-ups,” McCaffery said. “He drives the ball, finishes through contact, he can finish going right or left. He just plays the game with a tremendous amount of confidence, which is really impactful to his teammates.”
–Field Level Media
