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Coen Carr of the Michigan State Spartans drives against Rylan Griffen of the Kansas Jayhawks during the first half of the State Farm Champions Classic at State Farm Arena on Nov. 12, 2024 in Atlanta.
1. MSU shows it belongs. That can only be enough for so long.
ATLANTA – For a Michigan State basketball program trying to prove it’s still elite and trying to rise up to a level where it once existed comfortably, Tuesday night’s 77-69 loss to Kansas wasn’t all bad.
MSU, with a lot of young guys playing big minutes and older guys in new roles, went toe-to-toe — and sometimes brick-for-brick — with a Jayhawks team, that while ranked No. 1, has some work to do as well.
Still, people think Kansas is going to contend for a national championship and they don’t think MSU is in that realm and, Tuesday night in the Champions Classic, they were in the same realm. So, there’s that.
What should be frustrating for MSU is that it could have won this game if it could have found some offense earlier, if Jaden Akins had given more than two points on 1-for-8 shooting and two rebounds in 26 minutes, if it could hit more than 3 of 24 3-point tries.
It’s great for the Spartans to know they belong. But this was a chance to win. And at some point, belonging stops being of any solace.
I don’t think we’re there yet for this MSU team, which will grow from this — Frankie Fidler, Jace Richardson (see below), Jaxon Kohler (also see below), Jeremy Fears and so on.
For Akins, this sort of night simply won’t do. He wasn’t even on the floor during important parts of the second half. MSU’s coaches were going with the players who were producing. Akins has to produce for MSU to win these sorts of games. Not just points. In every aspect he has to be a presence.
Lots of things are starting to come into focus — including that three of MSU’s top four players off the bench (Kohler, Richardson and Coen Carr) might be three of their best players.
With more games ahead against top teams —…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/couch-3-quick-takes-michigan-015613425.html
Author : Lansing State Journal
Publish date : 2024-11-13 01:56:00
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