Well, the Michigan State basketball season is officially here, and it started on an interesting note for the Spartans, as they got shocked in overtime at home by a scrappy James Madison team, 79 to 76.
On the bright side, I don’t think Michigan State will shoot 5-percent (1-for-20) from the three-point line again this year, and I also don’t think they’ll shoot 62-percent from the free throw line either.
Due to the horrible shooting, Tyson Walker was forced to be the hero for MSU tonight, battling James Madison defenders in a crowded paint, who were playing hard all night, and dropping 35 points on the night. The only other Spartan in double-figures was freshman Coen Carr, who scored 14 and had six rebounds. This was a good night for two Spartan freshman, actually, the aforementioned Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr. led MSU in plus-minus at +6 on the night, so that’s encouraging.
All credit to James Madison, this is a strong team that went 22 and 11 last year and added some nice pieces this season. Tom Izzo took a huge risk scheduling a match-up against a team of this caliber for the season opener, many programs wouldn’t do that, but that’s the mentality of Tom Izzo, and this time it came back to haunt them, although I’m sure Izzo left with a lot to coach off of.
A.J. Hoggard, Malik Hall, and Jaden Akins combined for 6-of-33 from the field in an ugly night for three of your starters.
Before you panic too much about one loss, may I remind you that in the 1999-00 championship season, the Spartans lost to Wright State. It’s time for your hall of fame coach to use this game to do what he does best: coach his players. MSU will be able to quickly put this one in the rear-view if they can bounce back on Thursday against Southern Indiana.
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