Michigan State Basketball lost in frustrating fashion to the Virginia Tech Hokies, 71-66 in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. This game was incredibly close all throughout. The Spartans played right into the hands of the Hokies in the first half. Then in the second, things only got worse.
Here is a quick recap of this game:
First Half
Boy, the first half was pretty rough. One stretch was so bad that MSU only shot one of nine from the floor. Even worse, Cassius Winston had zero points in the first half. That is just not good. The Spartans need other players to provide positive plays besides Winston. If Cassius struggles, Michigan State is vulnerable, to say the least.
Virginia Tech defended transition points quite well. They made sure to get all five players back on defense each and every possession. Meanwhile, Winston racked up two fouls and had to sit early on. This brought in Foster Loyer and put Rocket Watts at the PG position.
Rocket drilled a three right in front of the Virginia Tech bench. Unfortunately, he also turned the ball over twice on back to back possessions. This brought the turnover total to 10 before the end of the first half. Virginia Tech simply spaced the floor against MSU. The Spartans could not stop helping on driving defenders. As a result, the Hokies hit threes at a solid clip in the first half.
Virginia Tech pulled ahead at the half, 32-28.
Second Half
The second half was even more frustrating than the first. Michigan State shot themselves in the foot time after time in the second half. I can’t tell you what was worse between the sloppy offense and unintelligent defense. MSU opened the second half with more turnovers and blown defensive assignments.
Virginia Tech tallied seven three with nine minutes left in the game. One three came as the result of Thomas Kithier leaving his defensive assignment wide open in the corner for a three. On the other end, Michigan State continued to cough up the ball to Virginia Tech. The Spartans totaled 16 turnovers with nearly five minutes left in the game, yikes.
Despite turnovers and missed three-point shots, MSU kept this game close down to the very end. Gabe Brown hit a clutch corner three to bring the game to 59-52, Virginia Tech’s lead. Winston later hit a three in transition to bring the Spartans within four points.
Two minutes left in the game and Landers Nolley stepped up big for Virginia Tech. Nolley came down and scored a bucket right at the rim through two MSU defenders. On the other end, Xavier Tillman put the ball on the floor then kicked it out to a wide-open Aaron Henry for three. This bucket brought Michigan State within one, 65-64.
Unfortunately, Landers Nolley came right back with a three of his own. He scored back to back buckets to put his team ahead. Spartan Guard Kyle Ahrens drove baseline and scored, but, it did little to help the Spartans. Wabissa Bede grabbed the board. MSU tried to extend the game with intentional fouls to no avail.
Where did this game go wrong? Turnovers, Virginia Tech threes, and Winston’s poor play. I know, I hate to say it too. Cassius is the leader of this team though. He cannot score only seven points on 2-8 shooting from the floor.
Michigan State plays against Georgia tomorrow at 2:30 P.M. You can catch this game on ESPN2 as well.
Stay locked on SpartansWire for more coverage to come.
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