3 Observations from MSU's Preventable Loss at Nebraska
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Friday night was a game Michigan State should have won. That does not mean it deserved it.
Multiple things that normally do not go wrong for the ninth-ranked Spartans did go wrong against No. 13 Nebraska, leading to the team’s second loss of the season in a 58-56 defeat on the road. Here are three things I took away (from afar) from this game and result that is definitely annoying, but not soul-crushing.
Unforced Errors
Michigan State turned it over 19 times on Friday night. That was the most of the season thus far for the Spartans, surpassing their 17-turnover performance at Penn State on Dec. 13. Across a game that officially scored with 62 MSU possessions, that’s a turnover rate of 30.6%.
What stood out about these turnovers, though, is how often they were completely unforced errors. Nebraska’s defense was outstanding nearly all night and certainly forced some, but there were multiple instances where Michigan State was practically handing the Cornhuskers the ball.
Cam Ward once threw a pass directly out of bounds, miscommunicating with fellow freshman Jordan Scott, who cut right as Ward let the pass go. Carson Cooper traveled completely on his own after receiving one pass. Kur Teng stepped on the sideline twice. One has to think that without those mental mistakes --- just those four ones from the top of my head --- lead to at least two points. There are probably others I'm missing.
Nebraska, on the other hand, only turned it over eight times. Even though MSU finished plus-14 on the glass, the Cornhuskers got seven more field goal attempts than the Spartans. In a top-15 matchup, margins like that matter.
Kohler’s Three-Point Shooting
The big silver lining from the loss is Jaxon Kohler. He made five of the six threes he attempted, ultimately finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. It was Kohler’s first career game with five made threes.
Michigan State would not have been in this game at the end if it were not for Kohler. There were two points where it felt like Nebraska had really gathered momentum — one time in the first half, and another in the second.
In the first half, it felt like the Cornhuskers’ Rienk Mast, also a big man, could not miss. He made five threes in that opening half, which made an already-electric atmosphere even louder. Kohler went tit-for-tat with Mast, going 4-for-4 from deep in the first half.
Kohler’s three-point percentage is now in video game territory. He’s 26-for-51 from beyond the arc this season, which equates to 51.0%. That’s the third-best percentage in the entire Big Ten among players with at least two attempts a game, per KenPom, only behind Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli (55.6%) and USC’s Jordan Marsh (51.9%).
Lack of Coen Carr Scoring
Michigan State needs more out of Coen Carr during games like this. If one heard Carr would only score two points on 1-for-5 shooting in 30 minutes before the game, they wouldn’t feel great about the Spartans’ chances.
The book is out on what Carr can do. When MSU is in transition, if you fail to defend the weak side, your team is going to be on the wrong side of a highlight that gets hundreds of thousands (or millions) of views on social media. Carr is the Spartans’ dream asset to have when it can easily get out in transition.
Nebraska was ready for it. He had an alley-oop dunk with a little less than 13 minutes remaining in the first half, but it came when the Cornhuskers’ defense was unsure if they had the ball or not, which drew some off-ball defenders up, which gave Carr the baseline and allowed Ward to lob it up when he gathered possession.
Carr needs to find ways to contribute when Michigan State’s fastbreak offense is taken away and is in a half-court setting. That’s how this game went; the Spartans only had six fastbreak points when they averaged 17.2 per game entering Friday. Some of that could come with a three-point shot, but Carr is only 5-for-25 (20%) from beyond the arc this season.
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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.
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