| Detroit Free Press
Tom Izzo: The state of Michigan needs more stars, better leadership
After the third consecutive basketball loss in Michigan, 79-62 in Ohio, Tom Izzo asked his leaders to improve and their stars to play better.
Courtesy of Michigan State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – While Julius Marble absorbed a strong foul and fell to the ground, Michigan State BasketballThe three captains – Aaron Henry, Joshua Langford and Foster Loyer – ran to help him get up.
The sophomore made his free throws and, in the middle throws that followed, Henry poked CJ Walker’s ball and quickly put it up. Down 20 five minutes earlier, the Spartans reduced to a nine-point game and looked ready to fight Ohio State No. 15 in the home stretch.
Not even 20 seconds later, Henry erased that impulse. His lack of Walker – an almost perfect free-throw pitcher – near the middle of the court took Tom Izzo off the bench and barked at his junior leader.
Walker did both. MSU did not score another field goal, and the Buckeyes sent the Spartans to their third straight loss, 79-62, on Sunday afternoon at the Value City Arena.
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That move crystallized much of Izzo’s frustrations about why he feels MSU (8-6, 2-6) is in his worst game in the top ten in the Hall of Fame’s 26 seasons.
“I don’t think our leadership has been good enough,” said Izzo. “And it’s difficult.”
Henry scored 10 points with seven rebounds and three assists, but had only 2 in 8 shots and had a few defensive defenses – including being caught napping in a Justin Ahrens 3-point basket at the end of the first half. The swingman, who withdrew from the NBA draft to return to his junior season, also faced problems in the first half.
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In the last three games, Henry hit 8 out of 26 shots, losing all 11 attempts at 3 points. (He was at 0 to 4 after Sunday’s arc.)
“He’s really our leader,” said Izzo of Henry, “and he’s been fighting.”
But it’s not just Henry.
Langford, a fifth-year veteran who was among the five Spartans who tested positive for COVID-19 last month, scored 15 points in 32 minutes, the best of the season, to lead the Spartans, but left the field for just 4 of 15 It was the guard’s fourth game of 6-5 shots with at least 10 points in his last five, but he’s been shooting 21.7% (5 to 23) since returning from quarantine, and shooting and 23.1% (3 to 13) of 3-point Range.
Rocket Watts, who started as a point guard on Sunday for the first time in a month, continues to languish. The 6-2 sophomore got just six points on the 2-to-9 shot, which included a 3-point aerial ball and two missed layups. It was his eighth time in nine games scoring a digit, and he averages just 6.1 points, while hitting 26.9% in eight games in the Big Ten. Watts is just 6 out of 27 from a 3-point streak in his last nine games.
“My stars have to play better,” said Izzo.
The revolving door of the Spartans in the center spun even faster against the Buckeyes, with Thomas Kithier, Marcus Bingham Jr. and Julius Marble all getting into trouble. Mady Sissoko’s minutes remain limited after her recent fight against COVID-19.
Defensively, the Spartans fought to stop EJ Liddell and Justice Sueing, who added 37 points and 15 rebounds. The two great men enjoyed the physical game and scored 16 to 19 on the free throw line.
“We have to pull ourselves together and try to find a way to get some wins and just keep our heads up and just focus on the task at hand,” said Langford.
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The Spartans finished 5 of 24 behind the hoop and hit 32.1% of the total, including just seven field marks in 28 attempts in the second half. They failed to capitalize on Ohio’s slow start after the break, so they were almost 8 ½ minutes without a basket on a stretch while the Buckeyes advanced 61 to 41 with 9:12 remaining.
“I think we came out with three or four consecutive stops defensively,” said striker Joey Hauser of the start of the second half. “I know I had an early turn, we may have had another one too. These are times when we have to capitalize and run our race, because you know there will be races in a basketball game. But now, it looks like we’re not running our race as often. “
Still, Izzo tried to keep his focus on the few good points.
Hauser looked more aggressive and scored 11 points from a 5-in-11 shot. The junior striker added five rebounds, but the Spartans were defeated again by 38-37.
MSU turned the ball just 10 times after committing a worst 21 of the season that led to 33 points in Rutgers’ 67-37 defeat on Thursday. However, those 10 awards led to 14 points for the state of Ohio on Sunday.
Henry went to the foul line eight times, while the Spartans hit 23 of the 31 free throws.
Izzo had 14 of his 15 players at OSU; he was just missing junior Gabe Brown, who tested positive at the end of last week. Assistant coach Dane Fife also lost his second game after a positive COVID-19 test.
Mostly, Izzo liked that the Spartans could have open looks. Even if they weren’t falling.
“We just have to keep fighting it,” he said. “I thought there were a few things that I could take out of this game. If I get that kind of shot and we can’t hit them, we won’t win any games. At the beginning of the year, we are taking all these photos. “
Prior to this season, Izzo’s worst record in eight games to start Big Ten had been 4-4 over six different seasons – most recently in 2016-17, with Langford in the squad along with Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward as freshmen. .
It doesn’t get any easier from here, either in time or in the opponent.
MSU went directly from OSU to No. 7 Iowa for a 7 pm tip on Tuesday. It is a game that was originally scheduled for January 14 before a postponement due to problems with MSU’s COVID-19.
Tuesday’s game, with a rest day, will be the third of the Spartans in six days since the restart.
“Let’s move on, let’s get ready for Iowa,” said Hauser, “because there is no time to sit and talk about it.”
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.