Record: 7-2, (1-0 Big Ten)

Rankings Week of 12/02/24: AP- 26, Coaches- 25

KenPom: 32nd // Bart Torvik: 31st

Updated KenPom- Off: 38th, Def: 28th. AdjT: 190th. SOS Net Rtg: 66th +4.38

MINNEAPOLIS, MN –

Michigan State apparently was not told they were no longer in Maui. The Spartans and Minnesota Golden Gophers opened conference play, but Coach Izzo’s squad turned up the heat inside with an emphatic 90-72 Wednesday night. This is consecutive games scoring 90+ for MSU and is now 7-2, 1-0 Big Ten while Minnesota drops to 6-4, 0-1 Big Ten.

Maui or Mid-West Winter? Spartans Offense Stays Hot

The high-octane offense for Michigan State was almost evenly distributed between starters (47 points) and the bench (43). The reserves highlighted with a pair in double figures by Coen Carr (12) and Xavier Booker (11) combining for 9-13 FG shooting, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks with only 2 turnovers. Starter Jaxon Kohler lead the Spartan starters with a double-double (11 PTS/11 REB) and Jeremy Fears Jr. with 10 points including 5 assists going 5-5 from the free-throw line. Szymon Zapala (9 PTS/5 REB), Tre Holloman (8 PTS/8 AST) and Jaden Akins (9 PTS) rounds out the starting five contributions. This was Trey’s second straight game starting and no player logged over 26 minutes.

Insane 30s sequence for Coen Carr. Energy—>Buckets. Have been really impressed with his development this season. Becoming harder and harder to take off the floor. pic.twitter.com/zZggt21J8W

— DK (@SpartanHoops_DK) December 5, 2024

Weak Non-Conference Schedule to Blame for MINN Slow Start?

Ben Johnson’s Gophers were dealt with early foul trouble to leading scorer Dawson Garcia as well as a slow start contributing to only lead for 1:02– all in the first half holding brief 12-9 and 14-12 leads. Garcia did finish with a respectable 18 points and 11 rebounds and played 39 of 40 minutes, which is virtually unheard of in today’s era. Reserve Mike Mitchell Jr. was big off the bench scoring 17 points on 6-12 FG shooting (5-9 3-PT) and fellow starter Lu’Cye Patterson chipped in with 12 points but was one of 3 in foul trouble.

Is Minnesota’s weak non-conference schedule directly contributing to their slow start? KenPom has them listed with a 161st SOS and 305th for non-conference with a bad loss to North Texas, OT loss to Wichita State plus a road loss to Wake Forest. Other opponents included: Oral Roberts, Nebraska Omaha, Yale, Cleveland St, Central Michigan and Bethune-Cookman with FDU and Morgan State wrapping up after finals week. Garcia is the only double-digit scorer and will need sizeable help going forward to be a more competitive team in the Big Ten.

Xavier Booker is fired up 🔥 @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/fMyY8gCeMW

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 5, 2024

MSU Players Heating Up

-Xavier Booker: Double figures in consecutive games and his first two with 10+ (9-12, 75% FG)

-Jaxon Kohler: Third double-double, 18-23 FTs (78%) with 1 foul and 2 TOs last two games

-Jeremy Fears Jr: Consecutive games with 10+ points who is a menace the foul line (30-36, 83% FTs) also chipping in 11 assists to 3 turnovers last two games. Still needs to improve defense to avoid foul trouble as that has become a wrong trend (3+ in 6 of their first 9 contests)

-Tre Holloman: 27 points, 15 assists with only 3 turnovers and 4 steals in his last two games. Still a streaky scorer, but his ability to run the offense smoothly and set up his teammates has been a big reason for their back-to-back 90+ point efforts.

NEXT ON THE CLOCK: NEBRASKA (6-1)

Saturday, 12/7 the Cornhuskers travel to East Lansing to open their Big Ten season, recently off a 103-72 win against North Florida and an impressive win at rival #14 Creighton, paired with a tough 3-point loss to another strong Saint Mary’s team. The big difference is they are led with 7 seniors and 10 total upperclassmen compared to MSU’s 3 seniors and 4 juniors. Brice Williams (Sr, G) leads the team at 18.4 PPG with Connor Essegian (Jr, G) at 14.7 PPG and Juan Gary (Sr, G) contributing 10.9 PPG.

Nebraska doesn’t shoot well from deep either (t-237th at 31.4%) and is significantly lower in Assist-to-FG Made % with MSU checking in at 19th (0.628 and 0.700 at home in 2024) while Nebraska is 145th (0.536 and a paltry 0.348 on the road).

KEYS TO VICTORY:

-Continue to earn trips to the free throw line and rack up opponent team fouls

-This will open up their 3-point threats and hopefully grow a marginal lead into a 10+ point lead and continue to add at the charity stripe

-Defensively, keep boxing out effectively and limiting second chance opportunities. This is a usual staple for Coach Izzo and this group is showing their metal so far this season

-Control the tempo, Nebraska checks in at 43.0 PPG in the 1st half (10th) compared to MSU’s 38.1 PPG (72nd) but the Cornhuskers fall to 39.0 on the road compared to MSU’s 41.3 at home accounting for a +7.2 edge to MSU. 2nd half difference is +10.3 also to the Spartans.

FULL KenPom Stats: https://kenpom.com/index.php

FULL Bart Torvik Stats: https://barttorvik.com/#