Well, perhaps "misery" is too strong of a word. There's plenty to critique in MSU's performance tonight -- the 27.4 TO% was brutal, Kalin Lucas was exposed on defense for the second time in a week, and Durrell Summers was anonymous for most of the game -- but nonetheless, this was MSU's best performance of the season. Garrick Sherman was very good, Adreian Payne was freshman-y, but showed lots of potential, and Draymond Green had stretches of brilliance. Most encouraging: if this version of Korie Lucious sticks around for a while, MSU is certainly a national championship-caliber team.
In sum, MSU lost by 5 to the #1 team in the country, at one of the toughest venues in the country, and at a time in the season when Spartan teams typically struggle. Also, that Kyrie Irving guy? Pretty good. The "losing creates teachable moments" argument has often rung hollow to me -- as if a team can't build from wins? -- but I can't say I'm very upset about tonight's performance. And hey, the Big Ten won the challenge, which should help the conference's national reputation.
In any event, feel free to discuss the game here. We'll have a full recap tomorrow.