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Published Feb 1, 2025
Defend, rebound, run: MSU didn't execute its three pillars in loss to USC
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Jacob Cotsonika  •  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer
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@jacobcotsonika

Defend. Rebound. Run.

Those are the three things every Tom Izzo team is required to do, and his Michigan State squad failed to live up to it for the first time in a long time during its 70-64 loss to USC on Saturday.

The commonality between defending, rebounding, and running is that none of it requires a whole lot of talent or ability. USC won this game because it played harder than MSU played in these hustle categories.

“We got punched in the mouth, and that doesn’t happen often,” said Izzo after the game.

It just looked like a Spartan team that was uncomfortable. Whether that was because of a 22-7 opening run for the Trojans or something else, it just didn’t look like the same MSU team that rolled out and took care of business in its previous road games.

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None of Michigan State’s ten rotation players stood out Saturday after at least one or two did in each game throughout its 13-game win streak.

A team shooting 81% on the year from the free throw line went 11-for-19 (58%). The shot clock ran out on MSU before they got a shot off in the final minute when the lead was only five points. Coen Carr ran out of bounds during the following possession.

In total, the seventh-ranked Spartans ended with a season-low 64 points and never led during the entire game; that was the first time that happened to Michigan State this season. The leaders in D-1 fast break points per contest (18.6) were held to just nine on Saturday.

Michigan State’s average rebound margin of +10 became just +1 while allowing ten offensive rebounds to the Trojans.

“Winning by one rebound isn’t exciting at all,” Izzo said.

Michigan State did all it could to get back in the game. There were a few instances where the Spartans had the ball in a one or two-score game, but it felt like every time that opportunity arose, USC would get a needed stop and then stretch its lead back out.

The Trojans’ starpower from their starting five simply overcame MSU’s depth. Four of USC’s five starters played at least 34 minutes, with two going the full 40. Fears led Michigan State with 12 points, whereas three of the cardinal and gold’s starters - Desmond Claude, Wesley Yates III and Chibuzo Agbo - all contributed at least 14 points. The only statistic that was clearly in favor of the Spartans was bench points at a 30-9 margin.

USC’s starters outscored MSU’s starters, 61-34. While some of that margin is to be expected given that the Spartan bench gets a lot more minutes than most, it’s asking a lot for those players to overcome a -27 margin, especially during a cross-country trip against a team that received an additional day of rest.

Regardless, the winning streak had to come to a close at some point. No team runs through a 20-game Big Ten schedule without facing some adversity, and - realistically - every single person, coach and player would happily take a 9-1 record and be atop of the Big Ten standings at the halfway point of the season.

The goal now for Michigan State will be to prevent the loss from compounding. MSU will immediately get tested again with its second leg of its trip to Los Angeles being against a UCLA squad that will enter the game on a five-game win streak.

That game will tipoff at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Feb. 4 and will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

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Michigan State Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Schedule
+State Farm Champions Classic, *Maui Jim Maui Invitational
DateOpponentLocationTime (ET)/TVResults

Sun. Oct. 13

at Northern MI (Exh)

Marquette, MI

1 pm/BTN

70-53, MSU

Tue. Oct. 29

Ferris State (Exh)

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

85-67, MSU

Mon. Nov. 4

Monmouth

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

81-57, MSU,
1-0

Thur. Nov. 7

Niagara

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

96-60, MSU, 2-0

Tue. Nov. 12

vs. Kansas+

Atlanta, GA

6:30 pm/ ESPN

69-77, KU, 2-1

Sat. Nov. 16

Bowling Green

East Lansing, MI

6 pm/BTN

86-72, MSU, 3-1

Tue. Nov. 19

Samford

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

83-75, MSU, 4-1

Tue. Nov. 25

vs. Colorado*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

5 pm/ ESPN2

72-56, MSU, 5-1

Wed. Nov. 26

vs. Memphis

Lahaina, Maui, HI

6 pm/ ESPN

71-63, MEM, 5-2

Thur. Nov. 27

vs. UNC

Lahaina, Maui, HI

9:30 pm/ ESPN 2

94-1, MSU, 6-2

Wed. Dec. 4

at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

8:30 pm/ BTN

90-72, MSU,
7-2 (1-0)

Thur. Dec. 7

Nebraska

East Lansing, MI

Noon/BTN

89-52, MSU 8-2 (2-0)

Tue. Dec. 17

vs. Oakland

Detroit, MI

7 pm/ ESPN2

77-58, MSU
9-2 (2-0)

Sat. Dec. 21

Florida Atlantic

East Lansing, MI

2 pm/FS1

83-68, MSU
10-2 (2-0)

Mon. Dec. 30

Western Michigan

East Lansing, MI

3 pm/BTN

80-62, MSU
11-2 (2-0)

Fri. Jan. 3

at Ohio State

Columbus, OH

8 pm/FOX

69-62, MSU
12-2 (3-0)

Thur. Jan. 9

Washington

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

88-54, MSU
13-2 (4-0)

Sun. Jan. 12

at Northwestern

Evanston, IL

Noon/4:30 pm
FOX

78-68, MSU
14-2 (5-0)

Wed. Jan. 15

Penn State

East Lansing, MI

7:30 pm /BTN

90-85, MSU
15-2 (6-0)

Sun. Jan. 19

Illinois

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

80-78, MSU
16-2 (7-0)

Sat. Jan. 25

at Rutgers

New York, NY

1:30 pm /CBS

81-74, MSU
17-2 (8-0)

Tue. Jan. 28

Minnesota

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

73-51, MSU 18-2 (9-0)

Sat. Feb. 1

at USC

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 pm/ Peacock

70-64, USC

18-3 (9-1)

Tue. Feb. 4

at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA

10 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 8

Oregon

East Lansing, MI

Noon/FOX

Tue. Feb. 11

Indiana

East Lansing, MI

9 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 15

at Illinois

Champaign, IL

8 pm/FOX

Tue. Feb. 18

Purdue

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/ Peacock

Fri. Feb. 21

at Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

8 pm/FOX

Wed. Feb. 26

at Maryland

College Park, MD

6:30 pm/BTN

Sun. March 2

Wisconsin

East Lansing, MI

1:30 pm/CBS

Thu. March 6

at Iowa

Iowa City, IA

8 pm/FS1

Sun. March 9

Michigan

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

March 12-16

Big Ten Tournament

Indianapolis, IN

Varies by day

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