Two Saturdays ago, Michigan State was the Big Ten’s only undefeated team.
But with three losses in their last four games, it has taken a mere fortnight for the 11th-ranked Spartans (19-5, 10-3) to tumble into third place. It doesn’t get any easier for coach Tom Izzo and Co. as they face Illinois (17-8, 9-6) on Saturday night in Champaign, Ill.
“I tried to explain when we were 9-0 (in the Big Ten) what was going on,” Izzo said. “I haven’t changed one bit. I told you four or five losses would win the league. I haven’t changed on that at all. We put ourselves in a hole now because we didn’t do the job at home. You’ve got to win your home games and split on the road.”
With that formula percolating in everyone’s heads, a lot of Michigan State luminaries showed up in East Lansing, Mich., Tuesday night in anticipation of Izzo breaking Bob Knight’s record for most conference wins by a Big Ten coach.
Instead, Indiana — Knight’s former school — kept Izzo stuck on 353 victories with an unexpected comeback inspired by something Knight abhorred — playing zone defense. Though the Hoosiers had played almost no zone previously this season, they switched to it late in the first half. Michigan State responded by shooting 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
“We haven’t run into much zone,” Izzo said. “But when you run into it, your shooters gotta make shots.”
Zone defense seems like a natural response to Michigan State’s season-long perimeter shooting woes. The Spartans enter Saturday’s game hitting just 28.8 percent on 3-pointers and converting just 5.6 threes per game.
The percentage ranks the Spartans among the bottom 10 teams in the country, and no power-conference team is worse. Jaden Akins (team-leading 13.4 points per game) has made the most 3-pointers this season for Michigan State (36), albeit on just 29.3 percent shooting from long range.
Fortunately for the Spartans, Illinois coach Brad Underwood prefers using a man-to-man to force opponents to get off the 3-point line and take tough mid-range shots.
But when then-No. 19 Illinois visited Michigan State on Jan. 19, the Spartans shot well enough on 2-pointers (25-of-55) and drew enough fouls (21-of-27 at the free-throw line) to claim an 80-78 victory.
Speaking of those fouls, Illinois freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis played only nine minutes in the first meeting before fouling out. After that game, Underwood questioned at least one of the calls, while Illini fans questioned nearly all five of them.
Regardless, it’s imperative for Illinois to be able to keep Jakucionis (team-leading 16.0 points per game) on the floor. He has scored a career-high-tying 24 points in each of the last two games — wins over Minnesota and UCLA — as he, 7-foot-1 sophomore Tomislav Ivisic and freshman wing Will Riley are developing into an explosive trio.
Ivisic, who missed three games and hasn’t practiced in three weeks due to mono and a high ankle sprain, averaged 17 points and 9.0 rebounds versus the Gophers and Bruins while Riley averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
“I’ve said it many times: We’re really good when we have all the pieces and the pieces fit together,” Underwood said. “I thought Kasparas just controlled the (UCLA) game in the second half.”
–Field Level Media
