Sitting at 3-3 on the season, Michigan State came into its home contest Tuesday evening with Georgia Southern having just fallen out of the AP Top-25 poll. With lofty preseason expectations significantly diminished, and with the Spartans comfortably off the national radar, Tom Izzo’s crew began the task of recreating a team in their own preseason image with a comfortably dominant performance against an over-matched opponent.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Southern Eagles entered the contest 0-6 on the season, rated as the No. 322 team in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings.

The game started with a new starting line-up for the Spartans: Tre Holloman, Tyson Walker, Jaden Akins, Malik Hall, and Mady Sissoko. Despite the new line-up, the team’s offense and defense posted a dominant first half, going into the half up 38-11 after a 25-2 closing run over the final 11.5 minutes of the period.

Despite going for an 11-minute stretch without a field goal in the first half, Georgia Southern made seven straight field goal attempts at one point in the second half to draw Tom Izzo's ire. But Spartan dominance continued throughout, ultimately leading to an 86-55 Spartan victory to move MSU to 4-3 on the year thus far.

The Spartans applied tremendous pressure in the paint, getting to the line 30 times (compared to a mere nine free throw attempts from the Eagles). MSU only managed a paltry 63% from the free-throw line on those attempts.

The Spartans also passed the ball beautifully, racking up 23 assists on the evening. MSU also did an adequate job limiting turnovers to a mere 15 for the contest.

Stronger performers included Jaden Akins with 14 points (team high), six rebounds, and two blocks (team high), and Jeremy Fears, who notched six points, 10 rebounds (team high), and three assists. Walker was second on the team in scoring with 12 points, and Holloman led the team in helpers with 10 assists.

The continued 3-point shooting issues for the team remain perplexing, with the Spartans shooting a pitiful 27% on 5-for-18 from beyond the arc. The volume of 3-point shots remains far too low, and the percentages for the key shooting individuals remain bizarrely out-of-sync with their career averages.

Two positions of concern continue to be the center and the point guard. With Tre Holloman providing a solid 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and with Hoggard having a merely up-and-down performance, the status of the starting position will remain in question. While both veterans remain good options as they find the full extent of their talents on the court in this young season, Jeremy Fears continues to impress. Fans shouldn't be surprised should he earn more minutes sooner rather than later if neither Holloman nor Hoggard can lock down the starting role.

At the center, neither Carson Cooper nor Sissoko covered themselves in glory, despite some good moments against the over-matched Eagles' front-court players. When Jaxon Kohler returns from injury, he will have a real shot to work his way into the center rotation thanks to his offensive acumen. Unfortunately, Xavier Booker’s complete inability to consistently execute the necessary skills to meet the coaching staff's expectations will continue to ensure that his tantalizing talent will remain largely elusive through the next couple of weeks, at least.

Finally, the Spartans’ putrid defensive showing in the second half indicates and underscores the maturity issues that have plagued the team thus far this season. The lack of on-court leadership and accountability remains surprising and perplexing.

This team continues to develop at a languid pace, despite having all of the returning talent and physical ability to really make this a season to remember. Hoggard, Akins, Walker, and Hall should form the backbone of a dynamic group. Instead, in every game at least half of this group of four has found parts of its respective games left behind in the locker room. This leadership group’s inability to consistently exert its prowess on both ends for an entire game continues to bleed into the team’s generally ho-hum approach and overall performance.

This team needs to find its spirit and backbone. To that end it may be a stroke of luck that the next opponent on the schedule is Wisconsin. That is because, historically, the Badgers have always been central to finding those team keys for the Spartans.

As for Georgia Southern, the Eagles are a solid 3-point shooting team by percentage, and one of the highest-volume 3-point shooting teams in the nation, along with strong shooting from the free-throw line, the Eagles' offense gives them enough of a weapon to cause opponents problems this season when the schedule transitions to league play. But Georgia Southern’s defense, one of the worst in the nation coming into the contest, will need to dramatically improve if they are going to have a chance to get to double digit wins on the season.

The Spartans will look to move past GSU and prepare for the Badgers in early Big Ten action. Start time is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time a week from today with the game streaming exclusive on Peacock.

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