EAST LANSING – The good news is that Michigan State has been consistently getting off to good starts and ultimately winning games, including three in a row and eight of its last nine.
The bad news is that those wins have been closer than expected in the end thanks to some second-half swoons.
Eliminating those moments and playing a complete 40 minutes is among No. 19 Michigan State’s top priorities entering its Big Ten home opener on Saturday against Penn State (2 p.m., BTN).
“We’ve got to stay locked in, mentally locked in,” Spartans forward Gabe Brown said. “We had a couple of games where teams came back because we’re not out there playing how we’re supposed to play.”
Twice in the last week, the Spartans (8-2) have gotten off to hot starts before letting things get a little too close for comfort in the second half.
Against Toledo last Saturday, the Spartans saw a 19-point second-half lead sink to nine points in a span of six minutes, thanks in large part to some languishing defense late.
At Minnesota on Wednesday, the Spartans once again lead by as many as 19 points in the second half. This time, the Spartans led their lead shrink to as few as six points before eventually closing out the win.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo pointed to some of Michigan State’s miscues that allowed the Gophers to get within two baskets in the final minute, including a bad inbounds pass that gave the Gophers a 3-pointer and a dribble off of a foot that led to a Gophers transition basket.
While opponents making second-half runs charges to get back into games is expected, Izzo wants to see his team avoid some of the mistakes that have opened the door to those runs, before one of them results in a loss.
“Last night I think we had a little lack of focus more than skill,” Izzo said after a team walk-through on Thursday. “There are times I think it’s different.”
But in both games, the Spartans had gotten off to strong enough starts to be able to withstand those late swoons and finish with a win.
On Wednesday, point guard Tyson Walker was the one who helped the Spartans out to an early lead, recording Michigan State’s first six points en route to a season-high 15 point performance.
Walker, the team’s transfer point guard from Northeastern, said he’s started to become more comfortable with Michigan State’s offense and get a better feel for when to shoot the ball.
“Everybody’s been telling me to be more aggressive and look for my shot more,” Walker said. “Those shots are kind of open shots that are there that I wasn’t taking before.”
Izzo was among those telling Walker to shoot the ball more instead of focusing solely on passing, and was happy with the results when he finally did.
“He’s starting to get a feel for his ability to shoot it,” Izzo said. “I did bring him and tell him ‘You’ve got to look for your shot more.’ He wasn’t doing that. But give the kid credit, he was trying to fit in and do the things he has to do.”
For the second straight game, the Spartans will be facing a first-year Big Ten head coach. Micah Shrewsberry was hired by Penn State after serving as a Purdue assistant and before that a Boston Celtics assistant.
The Nittany Lions have lost two of three amid a 5-4 start, falling at home to Miami (Fl.) and Ohio State since the start of the month.
But unlike Minnesota, Izzo pointed out that Penn State has a host of players back, including leading scorer and forward Seth Lundy (14.6 points per game) and senior forward John Harrar, who is averaging a double-double at 10.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
“People don’t realize, they have a lot of players back,” Izzo said.
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December 11, 2021 at 06:04PM
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