Didn’t watch the game, but for some reason I’m not at all surprised that he did that.

But this game was a travesty. Insert your choice of obligatory the-other-team-was-better-and-officiating-didn’t-cost-us-the-game comment here. I’m not going to buy into the “it was only 15-14 MSU” and MSU got more foul shots crap. 26 of Wisconsin’s 55 shots came from beyond the arc. The only time I ever recall Wisconsin making an effort to take it inside was Trevon Hughes’ embarrassing attempt to “take over” the game at the beginning of the second half by missing 5 consecutive shots. There should have been a huge foul disparity in favor of MSU. Instead, the Spartans were called for one more foul. And you could see it in the way they played defense – every time there was contact with an offensive player the defender would back up, raise his hands and glance at the nearest ref to see if this was going to be another of the random contact fouls that were the order of the day. Nobody had any clue what was going to be called. Kalin Lucas was in foul trouble early in the second half. You want to know how many times he’s had 3 fouls in a game before tonight – once. In the first Minnesota game when he picked up fouls 2 and 3 with under a minute left in the game. This was a flat-out embarrassment for the officials. No other way to put it.

…question. Who plays point when Korie Lucious is not playing? I’d guess Allen, which would have seemed very weird last year, but he’s become an okay ball handler. I hope Lucious is ready to play Lucas’ minutes and a few more.

That’s one of the big things I want to see develop. Roe needs to be a back-to-the-basket threat. That’s something MSU is missing and has been missing. Suton was only that player in flashes. Whenever Roe misses, Payne can swoop in and slam it back.

So much for my cautious optimism. First off, the officiating had no bearing on the result of the game. It just made it one of the the most aesthetically ugly basketball games in the history of the sport. They swallowed their whistles on shooting fouls and called every ticky-tack off the ball (and on the ball) foul they could imaginarily see.

As far as our performance – I have come to the conclusion that MSU teams of recent vintage (read since 2001) get too ramped up for certain games, and this was one of them. The result is a failure to execute due to emotional overload. The UNC game was the another game like this one, as several people commenting on the game thread noticed. In both cases we were trying to end a losing streak and exact a measure of revenge for past losses, and in both cases everyone was trying to do too much to get it done. Our defense was pathetic because everyone was collapsing on the ball to help out the guy whose job it was to guard the ball handler, rather than taking care of their own responsibilities.

Everyone who reads this blog regularly knows that with Leuer out, Wisconsin has become a POT. I have a hard time believing that the game-planning emphasis for this game was on helping on dribble penetration at the expense of leaving perimeter shooters open, but that is what we did time after time. The whole game was one big lapse in mental judgement. We overreacted to every offensive threat, leaving guys open on the perimeter to shoot uncontested jumpers. The same problem manifested itself in the UNC game, but at least they had some legitimate post scoring threats to worry about. The lapses in perimeter D last night were more eggregious because Wisonsin is sans anyone with a back-to-the-basket game.

The same problem manifested itself on offense with out-of-control plays. Granted, Wisconsin is not above flopping, but there were instances when we were out of control trying to make something happen and the charging call was justified. Time and again, over agressiveness got us into trouble on offense with ill advised shots, out of control drives, leaving our feet with no-where to go with the ball, etc. We just couldn’t get out of our own way, settle down, and play well.

Give Wisconsin credit – they hit their shots, played their game, and executed well on both sides of the ball. This is not the end of the season by any means. This game looked like a loss on the schedule from the get go, and we lost. The manner in which we lost is somewhat disturbing, but it’s not indicative of the quality of this team. Specifically, we have been playing excellent perimeter defense most of this year. Last night was a very large blip in an otherwise good record. The key will be how we respond – do we go into the tank mentally like we did last night or calm down and execute the way we are capable of? If we do the latter we should be OK and stay in the title hunt.

Lucas’ injury could be a blessing in disguise, assuming that it’s something that is not serious enough to keep him out or less than 100% for the remainder of the season. Allen, Summers, and Lucious can no longer defer to his leadership on the perimeter. This is a great opportunity for Lucious to be the man and run a team, and it’s a great opportunity for Allen and Summers to step into the role of being the primary perimeter scoring option.

Most of the detractors of MSU’s national title chances this year have pointed to a lack of a back to the basket, traditional inside offfensive post threat. That is still true of this team. It will be a glaring disadvantage for MSU if they have to play a team like Kansas, Kentucky or Texas in the tournament. But a lack of scoring punch in the post is also true of some other big time contenders such as Villanova, and other dangerous teams such as Duke, West Virginia, Tennessee, etc. In other words, MSU can overcome this.

What MSU cannot overcome in tandem with the lack of offense in the post is a lack of consistent scoring on the wing. I’ve maintained throughout the season that the one thing this team is missing compared to teams like Kansas, Texas, and Syracuse is another consistent scoring threat from the perimeter and second guy who can take over in crunch time. That should be Raymar Morgan, but after four years of frustrating play he is what he is, MSU’s most physically talented but also most frustrating player. After disappearing completely in games against Kansas, Louisville, and UNC in MSU’s tourney run last season you should give up on counting on him. So who does that leave? Draymond will always be consistently good but rarely great. He’s physically limited for elite status in this regard. Read: Allen, Summers, Lucious – it’s time to step it up. No more scoring outbursts followed by zero point games.

We were able to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat at the Barn and Breslin East. Last year, we needed the Northwestern wake up call. Still in good shape, however …

Last night’s game demonstrated how our difficulties at the beginning of games can have a depleting effect throughout the game. Just like turnovers, the anemic starts need to be addressed, particularly on the road and in neutral court settings, if this team is going to be successful come tournament time. Over the last five games, in the first four minutes of those games, the Spartans have scored a total of 21 points. At Minnesota, we scored 0 points, at at Wisconsin 3 points. Falling behing and having to claw back, particularly on the road is not a formula for success.

Related to the slow starts is Izzo’s reluctance to call an early timeout. I love the guy as a coach, but I do not understand this reluctance. It was 11 minutes in last night before he called a timeout. I understand the importance of keeping timouts for the end of the game, but of what use are they if you are down 15 or 20 at the end of the game. The team was shellshocked early on and needed a regrouping break. An earlier timeout may have helped, though I give them credit for regrouping some after the first TV timeout.

MSU has a 2 game lead with eight to play. Two of those are against Big Ten win-less Penn State. One of those is a home game against Michigan on Senior Day. One is a road trip to IU.

There’s no gimmes in the Big Ten, but the other four games are where I think the conference is won or lost. These four games include a road trip to Illinois, a home game against Purdue and OSU and a return game to Purdue. I really like the team’s chances at Illinois this weekend. The key is really going to be about defending home court, and wins over Purdue and OSU would just about clinch it barring a catastrophe somewhere else.

I knew this had to do with the BT’s refs.

Two comments about the officiating first, then to the game itself.

First, I agree with KJ (paraphrasing a tad) that Hightower is an attention-whoring clownbarrassment. In every game he officiates, his theatrics are over the top and seemingly aim to steal the show. Ed, sorry, but people don’t pay good money to attend and tune into these games just to see you spin into flourishing rages and melodramatic jackassary. If that’s what you live each day for, which can be the only conclusion drawn by any reasonable person watching you in action, I encourage you to join a drama club at a community college somewhere.

Secondly, officiating in no way determined the outcome of the game. It was frustrating, as is often and darn-near always the case when playing the Badgers, but it was not the cause of disparity between the two clubs last night. Wisconsin players have all but perfected the ‘art’ of embellishing the results of physical contact with opposing players, regardless of which end of the floor they’re on. It’s frustrating because it can be quite effective in changing the dynamics of a game, playing off how tightly the officials decide to be, and how consistent they decide to be. But what’s the most frustrating, which someone already commented on here, is that we know this going into any game with the Badgers. This is what they do. They do many other things, and they do them well, but this piece is very predictable and our players should know and understand as they prepare for this game that they will have to adjust to account for Ryan’s tactics. It’s my personal opinion that coaches should focus effort solely on playing the game instead of manipulating what the officials believe they see, but if it continues to work for them then it’s our fault for continuing to get bitten by it. In the end, as much as we all gripe about how Wisconsin plays and their flopping habits, shame on opposing players and coaches who fail to take it into account and adjust their approaches accordingly.

Now to the game.

Holy crap. Wisconsin came out looking like the team that stunned Duke earlier this year, hitting everything they threw up. This was aided by the fact that our defenders were a few steps slow and didn’t seem to know what was going on. It wasn’t just a few missed assignments here or there. Wisconsin kept moving the ball around and kept their non-ball-handling players shifting and swapping until someone got open, usually from distance. It was just a matter of time each possession until the defense broke down and gave up a wide open look. MSU got in a rhythm there for a while in the first half trading baskets with the Badgers, but trading twos for threes isn’t going to get you anywhere but behind. I was hopeful when Hughes went to the bench early in the first, but then so did Lucas and Jordan Taylor continued his inspired play and cemented himself as the new, up-and-coming Badger that will stick in our side for a couple more years. (Funny how they always have plenty of those types.) After the two-for-three tradeoffs went on for a while, State just seemed to implode for a while. Shots were no longer falling, the swing offense was still getting the best of them, and Wisconsin was doing everything right. They’re so patient and methodical and disciplined that it’s hard to find a weakness to exploit, much less exploit one. They’re the college basketball equivalent of the tortoise, slowly and steadily winning the race. It’s not fast, not sexy, and not (I’m biased, also I hate them) not entertaining to watch, but sweet mother of crap they work it to perfection. If you have issues and slip up, they will not only take advantage but will not give you a chance of making up your lost ground. You can only pray that those shots stop falling, which happens from time to time to all of us.

I’m not alone being unsettled about Lucas’s injury. He’s had his leadership and selfishness issues, but I really thought he was/is turning that corner. It’s not just the game-winning shots at the two UMs, but also his demeanor on the court and on the bench and in the huddle. There’s more eye contact, more assertiveness, more accountability to and demanded from others. To have him go down at this juncture is a significant setback. Lucious has seemed out of control at times and too eager to force the issue, but I’m actually not worried about him taking over the point. I think he’ll be playing with a different mindset knowing he’s temporarily-permanently stepping into the team’s leadership role, and do well. He’s shown an ability to calm the team down when things were getting frenzied, and I believe that will come through and better decision-making will prevail.

Until he can figure out what the problem is, Roe should not be backing people down in the post at critical points in any game with the intention of spinning and shooting. He’s a great rebounder, put-backer, and fighter inside, but for reasons unknown to us that turn-and-shoot skill seems to have disappeared completely. Rebound, scrap, and get the foul line – absolutely yes. I feel the same way about him forcing shots down low like that the way I feel about Green and Morgan shooting threes.

Champaign will be interesting. I think MSU is the far superior team here, and that Illinois will fade as the season winds down. However, with Game Day in town, with Purdue just two days later as a distraction, with Lucas out, with revenge on the Illini’s minds, with MSU proving its fallibility, this game just got bigger than it otherwise was. I actually don’t believe that environment will play a big part – the Spartans have showed poise in all away games this year, regardless of the outcomes. Their mistakes have been their own, not as a result of raucous arenas. Lucas’s injury could actually help us in the end by forcing this team to mature a bit more and pick up its intensity on its own, and I suppose you can’t progress meaningfully under easy circumstances.
 
And the conference race has become just that. Even the three-game lead was deceptive, with the other big three in the league (UW, OSU, PU) having played one another more than we’ve played them. For one, our back-loaded schedule and their front-loaded schedules will surely even out the records over the last half of the season. But more worrisome is the fact that since they’ve all been beating up on each other, they’re more tested and prepared while we’re still finding out what we’re made of. But that kind of thinking isn’t helpful. The season comes at you one game at a time and that’s all the Spartans should be concerned with right now.