EAST LANSING — Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch gives three quick takes from No. 18 Michigan State basketball’s 84-56 victory over Detroit Mercy at Breslin Center on Friday, Nov. 21:
1. MSU returns to earth from beyond the arc against Detroit
I think a good way to judge a team’s ability to do something — like shoot 3-pointers — is to subtract their best game or best couple games, and worst games, and see who they usually are. So, looking at the first couple weeks of this Michigan State season, you’d subtract MSU’s 1-for-14 night from beyond the arc against Arkansas and the Spartans’ 11-for-22 performance Tuesday against Kentucky and you’re probably left with something closer to the truth: 20-for-73 – 27.4% – in MSU’s other three games combined, including Friday’s 8-for-27 showing (29.6%).
In actuality, it’ll be a couple weeks before we know exactly how capable and reliable Michigan State is as an outside shooting team, because we need to see how the Spartans shoot against more comparable competition. MSU’s games against North Carolina, Iowa and Duke over the next 15 days will get of a good sense of things.
The good news for MSU: Tuesday showed no stage should be too big for a lights-out 3-point shooting night. And MSU has multiple players who could be 35% or better long-range shooters. The bad: Tuesday didn’t carry over to Friday, as it might have if that was closer to the who the Spartans will be this season.
Kur Teng, who made three of seven 3-point tries Tuesday — and received a nice applause when he took the court Friday at Breslin Center — went 0-for-4 against Detroit Mercy. Jesse McCulloch who also came off the bench and hit both 3-point attempts Tuesday, didn’t attempt one. Jaxon Kohler, who went 2-for-2 on Tuesday, was 1-for-4 on Friday.
UDM’s defense wasn’t any worse than Kentucky’s. But the evidence so far suggests Friday’s shooting night is closer to who MSU is as a 3-point shooting team right now.
2. Depth schmepth
The proof of “strength in numbers” last season as the Spartans’ mantra and identity was that, regularly, the second five were equally or more productive as the starters. Friday’s game was a good example of just how far the Spartans are from that this year.
MSU’s core four — Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, Kohler and Carson Cooper — all had plus-minuses between plus-14 and plus-28, largely playing together. Teng was plus-14 off the bench. Troy Fort was plus-9. After that, everyone else was between plus-five and zero (and that was with a strong finish), playing a lot of minutes together.
MSU’s reserves are promising pieces and complementary parts. It is not a group that defends in the same stratosphere as MSU’s starters, MSU’s main four especially.
Not a problem as long as those four enjoy good health this season. But there is no like replacement for Fears, Carr, Kohler or Cooper, who combined for 56 of MSU’s 84 points Tuesday.
3. Fears is entirely in control
What Fears is doing early this season, from a consistency standpoint, is exactly what MSU needs from him — and, if he keeps it up, will put him atop the MSU record books in single-season assists, by far.
A team like UDM, likely to finish in the bottom half of the Horizon League, never had a chance to make things interesting on Friday, because Fears (and Carr) set a business-like tone. His career-high 18 points, on 7-for-12 shooting (and 2-for-4 on 3s), came about because the Titans were giving him looks, and so he took them. But more importantly, he had another 11 assists with just one turnover, with a couple steals. Fears entered this game leading the nation in assists at 10.3 per game. He was right there again Friday. He has yet to have fewer than nine in a single game this season.
If you look at almost all of MSU’s great teams under Tom Izzo, they had one thing in common — great point guard play. I don’t know if this will be a great MSU team yet, but the Spartans are getting great point guard play.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State basketball win over Detroit Mercy shows starters’ power
Reporting by Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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