Spartans take steps in right direction

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After holding then No. 3 Ohio State to a season-low 48 points in an upset win Saturday, the Spartans’ defense was showered with love.
And deservedly so.

The Buckeyes shot 26.4 percent and Jared Sullinger, a likely All-American, missed 10 shots and committed 10 turnovers. It easily was the worst night of the season for the best scoring offense in the Big Ten.

But Thursday, in a 69-55 win over No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 7 MSU (21-5 overall, 10-3 Big Ten) did what so many Tom Izzo teams tend to do at this time of the year.

The Spartans got better.

Once again, the defense was suffocating, as MSU held the Badgers to 34 percent shooting, including 20.8 percent from long range. Much like the Spartans did with Sullinger and Ohio State’s William Buford, they frustrated Wisconsin’s best player, Jordan Taylor, who made just 3-of-13 shots.

Almost as impressive as the defense, though, was what MSU’s offense did to a usually impenetrable Wisconsin team on the other end of the floor. The Spartans shot 52.2 percent from the field. And after scoring just four points in transition in the teams’ first meeting in Madison, Wisc., MSU ran out to 15 fast break points Thursday while holding the Badgers to zero.

Scoring in bunches, the Spartans built as much as a 21-point lead against a team that creates its success by slowing the game down, limiting possessions and never getting behind by too much.
But no matter what Wisconsin did well, MSU did it better — substantially in some cases.

At his press conference Monday, Izzo said he wanted to see his players finish better around the basket. Thursday, the Spartans not only sliced and diced their ways to 34 points in the paint, they also finished eight layups through contact after getting fouled.

The 17-year head coach expressed a desire to cut down on turnover numbers he believed to be too high. Against the Badgers, MSU turned the ball over just 10 times after averaging almost 14 on the season.
In nearly every area the Spartans struggled before, they excelled Thursday.

“We’re getting better,” Senior forward Draymond Green said. “That’s all we can do is keep on improving. If we defend the way that we have been, we know the offense is going to click and keep on coming, so that’s just our focus.”

The pieces certainly are coming together. But what Green and Izzo emphasized after the game is that their team still isn’t as good as it can be.

“I hope we are peaking somewhat,” Izzo said.

Freshman guard Travis Trice, who has been a valuable contributor off the bench this season, didn’t play Thursday because of a sprained ankle. Senior guard Brandon Wood — arguably MSU’s best shooter — was limited by a shoulder injury he suffered in practice Tuesday.

Sophomore guard Keith Appling has been playing through an offensive slump, and despite being very good as of late, freshman guard Branden Dawson seemingly has only shown flashes of how dominant of a player he can be.

Still, the Spartans played one of their sharpest games of the year, becoming the only team to shoot better than 50 percent against the Badgers this season.

“We are doing some good things right now, and we want to keep on doing good things, but we still have a lot of room to grow,” Green said.

“We still have some guys who aren’t playing their best basketball, and if we can get everybody clicking like that, I think we can be a team to be reckoned with.”

That’s what has tournament-bound coaches all across America hoping like crazy MSU doesn’t end up in their bracket next month.

Because — like so many before it — this year’s team has shown it is built on defending, rebounding and out-toughing its opponents. But as the Spartans showed Thursday, they’ve developed the offense and flare to go with all the defense and grit.
And it’s only getting better.

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