"It's just been a perfect storm," he said. "I don't like to be an excuse-maker, but with the injuries and the guys I've had to throw off the team, it's been difficult. I blame myself for most of it. Jud [Heathcote] always used to say it's hard for your leader to lead if he's struggling with his own game. Kalin's been doing that all season. The injury affected his speed, and that changed his whole game. I don't think I've done a good enough job helping him with that.

"Honestly though, I still think we could get our act together before this is over. Kalin's 95 percent now. I have to be able to get them to defend and rebound better. I still think we can be a tough out in March if we can get some confidence back and get there."

Travis Walton is Optimistic

TRAVISWALTON5: TALKED TO MY SPARTANS DAWGS,WE BOUT TO TURN THINGS AROUND..IF U AINT WIT US NOW DONT JUMP ON WEN WE START BALLING..ONE (via Twitter)

. . .the poor play has nothing to do with Lucious, and unless Tom Izzo has lost his team, the Spartans will surely play better - and probably much better relative to their last three efforts - the rest of the way.

The question shouldn't be if MSU sucks, it should be if it sucks less than everyone else on the bubble.
The Spartans aren't playing up to their usual standards, they're not winning the NCAA title, and the Final Four seems like a pipe dream. This was the team ranked No. 2 in the preseason polls?
But Michigan State has hardly hit bottom.

It has been exactly one month since the Michigan State basketball team won a game in regulation time.

Despite reports, MSU-Iowa game (8:30 ET, BTN) is on & will be played as scheduled. We just finished shoot around and are prepping for game.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams confirmed the rumored aircraft carrier game against Michigan State next season on his radio show on Monday night. The game will take place on Nov. 11, 2011 – Veterans Day – in San Diego.

Michigan State's Draymond Green earns the first Player of the Week award of his career after averaging 21.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in a pair of overtime victories against Wisconsin and Northwestern. For the week, he shot .423 from the field, including .500 from three-point range, and .895 from the foul line. He also averaged 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest. In a 64-61 win over Wisconsin, Green scored a career-high 26 points, including the first eight in overtime. He went 8-for-17 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from long range, and also went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line. He also tallied a team-best nine boards, four assists and two blocks. In a 71-67 win against Northwestern, Green scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line, including 6-for-6 in the final 37 seconds of regulation to help force overtime.

Green said he thinks the Spartans simply "expect to win" when they take the floor. Izzo believes complacency, possibly the product of two straight Final Four runs, is a possible culprit.

The question is, how much failure does it take to eliminate complacency?

Michigan State assistant Don Treadwell has been hired as the head coach at Miami (Ohio), replacing Mike Haywood.

Treadwell has been Michigan State's offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the last four years. He was chosen on Friday to take over for Haywood, who left for Pittsburgh after two seasons in Oxford.