Following a 1-2 record through three games, the Michigan State men's basketball team did not get off to the start it wanted in the 2023-2024 season. On Friday, however, the Spartans bounced back in a big way with a 20-point victory in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, 74-54, over a Butler team that came into the game with a 3-0 record.
Now at 2-2, with a lot of season left to play, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was encouraged with his team's performance against the Bulldogs, but knows that the Spartans still have a long way to go.
The defensive performance from the Spartans was something that Izzo was particularly impressed with. MSU held Butler to just 29% shooting overall (15-for-52) and 28% from 3-point range (7-for-25).
"Well, we took a step in the right direction against a team that's been playing awfully well," Izzo said after the win over Butler. "I thought we did a hell of a job defensively, the first half especially."
Butler head coach Thad Matta also praised Michigan State, and feels that if the Spartans continue to play the way they did on Friday night, the team "can beat anybody in the country."
One area Michigan State has really struggled with is shooting the basketball, particularly from 3-point range. The Spartans entered Friday shooting just 16% from deep. MSU was better in that regard against Butler, going 7-for-20 (35%), but still not nearly as good as Izzo expects his squad to be.
One player who continues to struggle with his shot is junior guard Jaden Akins, who went 3-for-13 against the Bulldogs (23%), making two of his six attempts from 3-point range (33.3%). Through four games this season, Akins is shooting just 32.6% overall and 18.8% from behind the arc. Izzo expects him to turn it around soon.
"I thought all in all, we shot it a little better," Izzo said. "We still missed some good shots, but Jaden (Akins), who was my best shooter all summer, is still struggling with his shot, which causes him to struggle defensively, but other than that, he knows it. Nobody works harder at it, he'll bounce back, but to go 3-for-13 with the shots he had creates (issues). Instead of shooting 55 percent, maybe 50 (percent) from the three (point range), we were short of that."
Still, Izzo wants to see his team continue to improve with its shooting because it will rejuvenate the team and fans.
"Making shots cures a lot of evil," Izzo said.
The head coach was pleased with his team on the glass, as the Spartans out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42 to 32, and was also happy his team got 59 shots up and forced 12 turnovers.
Izzo had plenty of praise for Butler, which he called a "good team," and he specifically complimented a few Bulldogs, including DJ Davis, Jahmy Telfort and former Spartan Pierre Brooks II.
Speaking of Brooks, Izzo obviously didn't want him to have too good of a game against the Spartans, but wants him to thrive at Butler this season. Brooks finished with 13 points and four rebounds on Friday.
"I thought Pierre (Brooks) played good, and now I can be happy for him," Izzo said. "Before tonight I didn't want to be happy for him until after the game, but I thought he played good and looked good, so, believe it or not, I'm really happy for Pierre and hope he has a hell of a year."
Izzo went on to detail why the Spartans were so effective on the defensive end on Friday night. He noted that guards such as Akins, Tyson Walker, A.J. Hoggard and Jeremy Fears Jr. are all good defenders, but also mentioned that big men Carson Cooper and Mady Sissoko really helped the guards out against the Bulldogs.
"With A.J. (Hoggard), Tyson (Walker) and Jaden (Akins), I thought we'd have the best defensive team that I've had in a while, and then when you bring in a guy like Jeremy (Fears Jr.), who by the way played very well tonight, that's encouraging," Izzo said about his team's defensive performance. "Jaden, we (messed) up some coverages and some back-door plays. I think when offense doesn't go right, it sometimes affects a guy's defense, but we still played awfully hard. Malik (Hall) covered up a lot of things.
"I don't know if you could tell, but both (Carson) Cooper and Mady (Sissoko) did a lot of stuff on some of those dribble hand-offs and that to keep them contained ... Those guys both did a hell of a job, and Coop ended up with 11 rebounds, Mady six, they both scored a bucket, but their defense was what really was impressive. So they really helped the guards a lot."
Despite Michigan State dropping two of its first three games this season, Izzo has actually been quite satisfied with his team's defense this season.
"There's nothing like hanging your head on your defense," Izzo said. "It travels, as they say, it's got the chance to be there morning, noon, and night. I've been impressed with my own. I look at our overall defense in those losses and we hold teams to 37 (percent) and 27 (percent), those are phenomenal stats ... So, I guess I'm more than pleased by it, and yet I think we can get a lot better."
Speaking of Cooper, the sophomore earned his first career start on Friday night against Butler. Izzo noted that Cooper "thanked" him "for the the opportunity," which the head coach pointed out doesn't happen often with the younger generation anymore.
Cooper didn't score a lot of points (three), but he made an impact just about everywhere else with 11 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, two blocks and a steal. However, Izzo isn't sure if Cooper will remain the starting center instead of Sissoko moving forward, but does expect both players to play about an equal number of minutes.
Izzo also considered other changes to the starting lineup, but the staff ultimately decided to only make the switch at center for now. Izzo noted that it didn't have much to do with Sissoko's play, but more so a "gut feeling" about Cooper.
"I was gonna be like hockey, I was gonna switch the whole crew because I just didn't like the way we were starting (games)," Izzo said. "There were some other guys that didn't play as good and I would have switched them, but we just thought this was the one that really didn't matter the most because both guys are playing 20 minutes a game, but we wanted to see — we were a little disappointed with a couple things, so (assistant coach) Doug (Wojcik), him and I talked about it, so we thought (to) give Coop a chance.
"But we're not in any way, shape, or form down on Mady (Sissoko) either, in fact, he actually did some good things going in there. Is it gonna stay that way (With Cooper starting)? It might. It was not for punishment or there would have been other guys sitting out, so it wasn't for any of that. It was just a gut feeling, something we wanted to try."
When pressed further about Cooper starting moving forward, Izzo remained noncommittal.
"I don't know," Izzo said on if Cooper will continue to start moving forward. "I'm not a big 'quarterback controversy' coach. Like I said, it wasn't done out of punishment (for Sissoko). There's a difference when you do something out of punishment. It was just the decision we made, coach's decision as they say, but at the same time, as I look at it, Mady played 16 minutes and Coop played 22, last game was the opposite, so they're both going to play in that 18 to 22 minute thing. They get along well, I don't think it matters to either one of them."
Izzo also mentioned that Sissoko cheered on Cooper throughout the game.
Additionally, Izzo also thought Walker was more aggressive against Butler, which he liked to see, and mentioned he is "so proud" of Walker for "how he's handled things."
Walker finished the game with a game-high 21 points to go along with four assists.
As for Izzo's point guard, Hoggard has struggled to begin the 2023-2024 season. He played better on Friday, especially in the second half, and finished the game against Butler with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Izzo liked the way Hoggard responded after getting off to a poor start early this year, but knows he still has more to give.
"I think we can get a lot more out him, I really do," Izzo said about Hoggard. "I mean, he still missed some great shots, but he got downhill more, he got in the lane more, he got to the free-throw line more, he finally rebounded the ball, which he can do. We posted him up, we put him in different positions. I guess the one thing that bothers me is, my whole staff has been saying that if we play him less minutes, we'll get more out of him. Well, I hope he takes that as an insult and gets himself in better and better and better shape because he did only play 25 minutes, but he played pretty well."
Izzo also mentioned that it's "critical" to get Fears, the freshman, some time on the court. Izzo thought Fears played his best game as a Spartan, "in a lot of ways," on Friday night.
Additionally, Izzo noted that walk-on guard Davis Smith is dealing with a hip injury, but he praised him for the job he did throughout the practice week on the scout team. He "loves" Smith. Izzo also complimented the play of graduate senior forward Malik Hall.
The head coach also provided a brief update on sophomore forward/center Jaxon Kohler. Izzo mentioned that Kohler is out of the walking boot after undergoing foot surgery in October, and he is expected to resume practicing in mid or late December.
Michigan State is back at the Breslin Center at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday against Alcorn State. The game is part of the Acrisure Classic event and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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