1. MSU will arrive in Maui tested — by Samford and Bowling Green as much as anyone
EAST LANSING – As Michigan State’s basketball team tried to survive the final minute against Samford on Tuesday night, none of it really mattered in that moment. The season — aka freshman Jase Richardson — was on the bench, having his left ankle wrapped with ice after landing awkwardly on the baseline.
Seconds later, senior Jaden Akins joined him, having fouled out.
The Spartans will be glad to be done with the Bowling Green-Samford stretch of their schedule. Happy to see Colorado and maybe UConn and North Carolina, Auburn or Iowa State next week in Maui. Well, happy to see Maui, at least.
These last two home games have been a stress test that might serve Michigan State’s basketball team well in the long run — challenging styles and matchups, well-coached teams that believed they had a chance to beat the Spartans. Worth it if Richardson is OK. Better than pounding some bottom-feeder and getting nothing but a win out of it, I guess. We’ll find out for sure when MSU puts together next year’s non-conference schedule.
The Spartans did get something out Tuesday night’s 83-75 win over Samford: They were again forced to deal with tangible in-game adversity, this time including an opponent’s pressure defense that made life uncomfortable and sometimes chaotic. They were forced to deal with their own outside shooting demons and conquer them. Akins, whose shooting struggles have been a big part of that, had to figure it out. He did — scoring 25 points in the game’s final 26 minutes, hitting 10-of-15 shots after missing his first three shots, all 3s. He made 3 of 4 from beyond the arc the rest of the way, before fouling out in the final minute.
Richardson was efficient again, with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting. They’ll need him next week to do much of anything at the Maui Invitational. Tre Holloman played an important role, though made only 1-of-9 3s. His shooting slump isn’t over. Xavier Booker also helped ignite a critical first-half run. MSU made 20 of 23 free throws. Getting to the line and finishing there looks like it might be a strength.
We’ll learn a lot more about this team next week. Having Richardson healthy would help that be a true evaluation. But this MSU team will arrive 4-1 and pretty well tested. As much by Bowling Green and Samford as anyone.
Relative to other games, it felt like MSU was raining 3s
Perhaps never has 7-for-24 shooting from beyond the arc felt so good. When you miss your first nine 3-point attempts and reach the point where you’re 16-for-89 on the season from deep and guiding every shot, very few of them coming close to going in, and it feels like you might never hit one again …
Yeah, you’ll take 7-for-24 and seeing the lid come off the basket.
This game turned in part because it did — with Xavier Booker, Tre Holloman and Jaden Akins hitting 3s in succession during a 30-7 first-half run that had a lot more to it than outside shooting, but those 3s allowed for an exhale that the Spartans badly needed. And Akins’ two second-half 3s then helped MSU put a smidgen of distance between itself and a Samford team that did not wither easily.
You can play as well as you want, but if you can’t make good looks from beyond the arc, this is a hard game.
If MSU is going to have success in Maui next week and beyond, the shooting slump has to be over. I don’t know that it is yet, but the Spartans needed that first-half-flurry and to see a few more fall after that.
3. An important night for Xavier Booker, who made a dent in MSU’s win
Xavier Booker is a long way from being someone you can trust to make an impact for MSU. But he reminded everyone Tuesday night that he’s not to be written off.
With MSU trailing 21-9 and struggling to find anything rhythm offensively — never mind make a shot — Booker buried a catch-and-shoot 3 from the right side. The next time down the court, he was blocked at the rim, but stayed with it, rebounded his own miss and put it back up and in. That seemed to quell some fo the nervous energy in the building and was the beginning of a Jaden Akins- and Tre Holloman-led 30-7 run that put MSU in control at the break, 38-28. Booker was on the floor for much of it, finishing the first half with a team-best plus-minus of plus-19.
Booker finished with seven points and one rebound in 10 minutes, including a driving layup through the Samford defense as MSU was battling to separate itself in the second half. This was his first noticeable positive impact this season. Important for him. And for MSU. Because he’s going to be part of this.
One of the Spartans’ strengths — if you can call it that — might be that on a team with several guys still trying to find their way, there is a lot of possibilities for someone to give MSU a lift on a given night. You just can’t count on many of them yet. And that’s unsettling, at best.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
