1. MSU isn't built to withstand a blitzing like that from the Badgers
MADISON, Wis. — It’s a rare college basketball team that can overcome what Michigan State experienced Friday night at Wisconsin — being blitzed from beyond the arc, tough shots by the Badgers falling from everywhere, a classic feel-good home game by an opponent that’s built for an occasional night like this.
The Spartans are not that rare team built to prevent it. They’re not complete enough, not efficient enough offensively to counter it. MSU’s offensive inconsistencies and limitations will likely ultimately sink the Spartans at some point.
Doesn’t mean the Badgers are better than the Spartans. There’s not a metric on earth that says so, other than the scoreboard Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin’s 92-71 win over the Spartans is similar to the mojo MSU had against Iowa, USC and Maryland — home-game confidence that’s not entirely representative of reality. It happens sometimes.
I didn’t picture this game going as it did, but I thought this was the second-most likely game for the Spartans to lose the rest of the regular season, the finale at Michigan the only one more likely. The Badgers’ shooting, the matchup, the venue. The town was buzzing on this warm Friday night long before tip-off. Wisconsin’s students stormed the court after, continuing the celebration.
When you get 19 points from Coen Carr playing like he did and lose by 21, there are some things in the air working against you.
That said, we saw why being the 44th-ranked team nationally in offensive efficiency, per Kenpom, all but precludes a team from winning a national championship — unless Jeremy Fears Jr. turns into Shabazz Napier. Connecticut in 2014 — which beat MSU in the Elite Eight — is the only team in modern times that profiles like MSU offensively that has won a national title.
That said, we also saw the Badgers at their absolute best Friday night. Wisconsin was 13-for-24 on 3-point tries after Braeden Carrington’s 3 with 12:07 remaining put the Badgers ahead 70-50. The Badgers finished 15-for-35 from deep. But this was a deluge for a lot of the night, including 9-for-15 from 3 in the first half and 17-for-29 from the floor overall.
Wisconsin shot like this at times in winning at Michigan and at Illinois. Those were road games. Friday they also had the home-court juju. MSU has had plenty of that this year at Breslin.
Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd looked like prime Damon Staudamire — even against good defense at times — scoring 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including 5-for-7 beyond the arc.
Mostly, if you’re MSU, you just move on, having been blasted by perhaps the most dangerous 6 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
If there’s a concern, it’s that MSU doesn’t have an answer for hot-shooting team like this, and didn’t control the glass the way you’d need to, to have a chance to overcome it. A couple quick 3s by Jordan Scott in transition and six points from Jeremy Fears (a 3 and three free throws after being fouled on a 3) brought MSU back from 36-18 to 39-30. Then Wisconsin answered and never stopped. Scott joining Fears as a threat might give MSU another gear. MSU got 23 combined out of Scott and Kur Teng (12 by Teng, 11 from Scott). The Spartans needed one of them to go for 20-plus.
2. That’s the Coen Carr MSU needs offensively
If you’re looking for positives from MSU on Friday night, start with Coen Carr, who had 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting and made 6 of 7 free throws. He only had three rebounds, though two were memorable, above the trees. Mostly it was his approach out of the gate — zero hesitation, shooting from deep, getting to his spot near the free-throw line, looking comfortable and in control.
I thought he was good defensively, too, even if he had some ridiculously tough shots hit over him, one 3 in particular by John Blackwell.
Carr’s effort wasn’t nearly enough on this night. But that mindset and performance will be enough a lot of nights. MSU could use him to build on this.
3. Road blues continue
MSU is 1-3 in true road games this season — having lost at Nebraska, narrowly escaped Rutgers, fallen at Minnesota and now at Wisconsin. The Spartans’ other road games don’t really count. Penn State doesn’t have a home-court edge. The Washington game was mostly MSU fans. The Oregon win was a split. Those weren’t tough atmospheres.
Having said that, we have haven’t seen MSU play well on the road this season. I like MSU’s matchup with Purdue and Indiana a lot more than I did with Wisconsin. But the evidence so far makes you wonder if the Spartans have the goods to win in Mackey Arena or Assembly Hall, never mind against Michigan at Crisler Center.
The Spartans, at 20-5 and 10-4 in the Big Ten, are pretty much out of the Big Ten race now. They’ve got to focus on themselves, on growing offensively and being able to counter difficult environments when things don’t go their way.
Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball blitzed by Wisconsin, 92-71: 3 quick takes