| Detroit Free Press
Tom Izzo: Michigan basketball was hampered by mistakes, not layoffs
Tom Izzo said Michigan’s 20-day basketball break was not the reason for the wrong turns and pitches that led to a 67-37 loss on Thursday to Rutgers.
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
PISCATAWAY, NJ – Michigan’s basketball return to competition could not have started much worse.
Rutgers scored the first 15 points in 5 minutes and dominated defensively. After 20 days off, the Spartans looked just as rusty and flat on both ends.
Still, they recovered to make it a game of possession just before the break, only to emerge from the locker room plagued by the same problems – twists, kicks being blocked and defensive failures.
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There was little that Tom Izzo could do on the sideline while watching MSU return after almost three weeks off with a lifeless defeat by 67-37 on Thursday night at Rutgers, the Spartans’ lowest score since 2008 and their first defeat for the Scarlet Knights in 12 meetings.
MSU suffered a 43-36 loss to Iowa on January 12, 2008. But the circumstances of the Spartans this time were significantly different.
It was MSU’s first game in 20 days, since a 55-54 home loss to Purdue on January 8. The Spartans (8-5, 2-5 Big Ten) are begging to look more like a team that will fight to simply be in the bubble for the NCAA tournament, instead of being the champion of the conference three times.
MSU played with principal owner Joshua Langford and striker Mady Sissoko on the return of COVID-19. Second year Steven Izzo also made the trip and entered the game in the final minute, with freshman Davis Smith and junior Gabe Brown remaining isolated, along with assistant coach Dane Fife.
No MSU player reached double digits, as the Spartans scored just 28.6% in total. The players Izzo has counted on to be his Big Three – Aaron Henry, Joey Hauser and Rocket Watts – added up to 17 points in 8-in-22 shots, five rebounds and 10 losses.
Henry’s seven points led the MSU, while Marcus Bingham had seven rebounds and four points. Langford played 21 minutes and finished with three points in 1 of 8 shots, while Sissoko was goalless in four minutes of the second half.
The Scarlet Knights (9-6, 5-6) scored 33 points in 21 MSU turns in the game. But it was the initial volleys of each half that crushed the Spartans.
This included eight points in the first 5 minutes of the game in five MSU awards and nine points in four more turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the second period. Rutgers overcame the Spartans, 26-2, in those two stretches.
Myles Johnson had 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead Rutgers, who had another five scoring between eight and 11 points.
MSU will return to East Lansing on Friday and depart for Columbus, Ohio, a day later. The Spartans face No. 15 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon, then No. 7 Iowa on Tuesday, a game rescheduled for January 14 that kicked off the three-game postponement period for the Spartans.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more about the Spartans of the state of Michigan and subscribe to our Spartans newsletter.