| Detroit Free Press
Tom Izzo blames himself for Michigan State basketball blast against Iowa
Tom Izzo called Michigan State basketball’s 88-58 loss to 16th Iowa “a total collapse” he did not expect, placing the blame on himself.
Michigan State
EAST OF LANSING – Rocket Watts did not return to the Michigan State basketball sideline in the second half of Saturday’s 88-58 loss to 16th Iowa.
A team spokesman said the second-year shooting guard left for “health and safety precautions”. Coach Tom Izzo said after the game that Watts was “a little sick” with stomach problems, but had recorded negative results for COVID-19 with his rapid antigen test the morning of the game.
Izzo said Watts should do a PCR test after leaving the Breslin Center, with results expected by Sunday.
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“It’s just another situation that we’re going to deal with,” said Izzo.
Izzo said the medical team handled Watts the same way they did when Thomas Kithier felt bad during the Spartans’ game last Saturday against Nebraska. Kithier’s PCR test for COVID-19 was negative and he didn’t miss a game.
Watts left the game with 2:07 remaining in the first half, after playing 10 minutes and 22 consecutive seconds. He scored three points on 1 of 5 shots, making 1 of 3 behind the 3-point arc, and added two rebounds and two assists.
“During the break, he became very ill,” said Izzo. “And then they did the same thing they did with Kithier, they kicked him out. And it will go through the entire protocol. … It could also be the flu or something. We’ll probably find out tomorrow, but we’ll still have to keep him out for a few days, whatever the protocol. “
Henry sits
Izzo dismissed healthy Aaron Henry for just under eight minutes of the first half. Your reason for holding the position of junior captain?
“That’s just how it worked,” said Izzo. “I think Aaron, the energy might not have been there.”
Henry came back in and scored six goals for the Spartans in the final 4:15 before the break. He threw a rabid hatchet after driving into the basket in his first offensive possession, then countered his own mistake and made two free throws.
Still, MSU lost 46-27 in the interval. The Spartans were defeated by 17-8 when Henry checked out at 12:29 and returned with 4:31 to the end of the break.
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Izzo said he and his team thought Henry must be “a little tired”.
“It will happen sometimes,” said Izzo. “And I thought that at the end of that half, when he came back, and at the beginning of the second half, there was a different level of energy.”
Henry finished 5 of 11 shots for 13 points – 11 of them after his extended rest and added four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes against the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-6 swingman scored 24 points in his first encounter on February 2, a 84-78 victory in Iowa.
Something is wrong
The Spartans’ shooting fights (22 to 62, 35.5% of the field) continued against the Hawkeyes.
MSU hit 6 of 21 out of a 3-point streak, with Gabe Brown hitting two and Joey Hauser one, while the Spartans made their final three attempts in the final 4:52.
It was the fourth time in the last seven games of the Spartans that they hit worse than 40% and the sixth time making less than 30% of the 3-point attempts on that stretch. They are 40 out of 145 (27.6%) behind the hoop, losing five of their last seven games.
MSU entered Saturday in 12th place in the Big Ten in percentage of pitches and percentage of pitches of 3 points during the conference game.
“Everyone collapses a little when you get kicked in the ass,” said Izzo.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more about the Spartans of the state of Michigan and subscribe to our Spartan newsletter.