No Super Sunday for the Spartans

 

Both losses share many similarities. The biggest is that both visiting teams had a player that got extremely hot against the Spartans. In this case, that hot shooter was the Big Ten’s PPG leader, Talor Battle. Battle scored a game high 29 points, including a whopping 6 three pointers against a normally tough Michigan State defense. To MSU’s credit, at least two or three of Battles triples were from well beyond the ark, one of which he shot with a hand in his face, and banked it off of the glass for a bucket. “Sometimes you don’t know what to say to your team after something like that,” head coach Tom Izzo remarked about that particular shot from Battle.

 

The game was neck and neck heading into the waning moments, despite the fact that both teams led by as many as 12 at least once in the game. After being down by 12 with just over 4 minutes remaining, the Spartans battled back after a kick start from Kalin Lucas when Lucas drove to the hoop, got fouled, sank the shot, and then landed the resulting free throw as well. The Spartans also grabbed a bit of momentum when freshman Korie Lucious got a steal and a bucket with 3:28 left on the clock to bring the score within 7.

 

After a free throw battle which saw Kalin Lucas miss one to tie the game, and Talor Battle miss both of his to possibly seal the game, the Spartans actually had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with 10 seconds remaining on the clock. However, Lucas had to settle for a bit of a forced jumper with 3 seconds on the clock that rolled around the rim. Two ensuing free throws with 1.7 left sealed the game for Penn State.

 

MSU was once again without junior star forward Raymar Morgan, who is said to have a case of walking pneumonia. Morgan did play about a minute towards the end of the game, but only had about 1 or 2 touches.

 

All in all, another disappointing home loss for the Spartans means that the Big Ten Championship quest just got a whole lot harder. MSU is in a virtual tie with Purdue, leading by 1 game only because they’ve played one more conference game than Purdue. The Spartans will play against a tough Minnesota team at 8:30 Wednesday night that has now become a must-win at the Breslin Center.

 

Coach Izzo certainly has his work cut out for him heading into Wednesday’s game. A solid Minnesota team will certainly be looking to capitalize on the recent poor defense that Michigan State has been playing at home, and the Spartans sure didn’t look like the defensive powerhouse that we’ve seen on a number of occasions this year when they took to the floor with Penn State. If Minnesota is able to knock down the crazy shots that Battle and Coble did, it could make for a long night.