3 Takeaways from Michigan State's Discouraging Loss to Wisconsin
Michigan State got its butt kicked in a way it hasn't seen in some time.
No. 10 MSU ended up losing at unranked Wisconsin, 92-71, on Friday night. The Spartans' have not lost by that much since losing by 26 at 25th-ranked Iowa on Feb. 22, 2022. This loss kills pretty much all hope at a second consecutive Big Ten regular season title, as Michigan State now sits with three more conference losses than Michigan with only six games remaining in the regular season for MSU.
This game was just straight-up bad. Poor offense, poor defense, poor everything. The Badgers played quite well, but the Spartans haven't looked that out of sorts all season.
There are a couple of reasons for that. Here are my three main takeaways from Friday's loss for Michigan State:
Overreliance on Fears
MSU is asking Jeremy Fears Jr. to do too much out there. Any path to victory against quality opponents requires Fears to play well. If he's off, the team is off, and that almost certainly will result in a loss against a Wisconsin team that has beaten teams better than Michigan State this season already.
Fears didn't play his best on Friday. The box score reads 14 points and 12 assists, but Fears was just 3-of-12 from the field. Really, that's a fine game in a vacuum, but it's clear MSU needs more right now to pull out wins in games like these. The Badgers seemed perfectly fine allowing Fears to run his assist total up. They seemed to think that if they kept a lid on Fears' scoring total, that they could outscore his teammates. They were right.
Miserable Night for Bigs
One reason that Fears has to do so much is that Michigan State's bigs are not contributing enough offensively on a consistent basis. Jaxon Kohler only scored five points (2-for-6 shooting), while Carson Cooper had six (3-of-6 from the field). That's not enough, especially with how thin and inconsistent the Spartans' backcourt is with Divine Ugochukwu out for the year.
It's been a difficult month or so for Kohler, especially. He had at least 10 points in MSU's first 17 games this season, averaging 14.4 per game. In the eight games since, he hasn't had more than 12 in a game, has been in single figures four times, and has averaged just 8.6 points per game.
Chemistry has Caught Up
Tom Izzo's teams have a built-in advantage nowadays early in the season. Michigan State, for better or worse, doesn't utilize the portal as aggressively as other programs. All seven players who saw at least 10 minutes on Friday night are players who have only played for MSU at this point in their careers. That would be different if Ugochukwu or Kaleb Glenn were healthy, but the point remains.
When it's November or December or even January, other teams that utilize the portal more are still breaking in their new rosters. The Spartans don't have to deal with that as much.
But now that it's later in the season, players like Wisconsin's Nick Boyd (a San Diego State transfer) have meshed with their teammates and know the system. Boyd had played 13 games of Big Ten basketball entering this one, and he'd also been to the Final Four with Florida Atlantic --- that Spartan logo isn't scaring him at all. He promptly dropped 29 points, including 20 in the first half.
This chemistry advantage has largely been wiped away at this stage of the season. In fact, Ugochukwu's injury might be altering the rotations enough that Michigan State might be the team that is soul-searching the most in some games moving forward.
Keep up with all our content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts on MSU's loss at Wisconsin when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.
Never again miss one major story related to your beloved Spartans when you sign up for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes straight to your email with the latest news. SIGN UP HERE NOW
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
Follow jacobcotsonika