Michigan State Basketball: Report card for Rutgers win

Michigan State basketball won its fourth straight game, taking down Rutgers on Wednesday and here is the report card for the victory.

Coming up big with a third straight Big Ten win to start the conference season, Michigan State basketball is starting to look like the team everyone thought it would be at the beginning of the year. OK, so injuries to Ben Carter and Gavin Schilling put doubt in the minds of many, but the Spartans were still chocked full of talent.

That remained true even with Miles Bridges out for a month, but he did return to play 17 minutes against Rutgers on Wednesday. The Spartans improved to 11-5 on the year and 3-0 in Big Ten action. They will travel to Philadelphia to take on Penn State Saturday in an important matchup.

Wednesday had the feeling of the old Spartans who would just dominant inferior opponents without mercy, and that’s a positive step for this team.

What does the report card look like in terms of bench and starters play, shooting, passing, defense and rebounding?

Jan 4, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. (11) gestures to the crowd during the second half of a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Bench: A-

The bench had a bit of a different look to it on Wednesday, which is why the grade is so high. I’m usually hesitant to give the bench a good grade unless it truly exceeds expectations, but there were a couple of guys who are normally in the starting lineup who played well coming off the pine.

Bridges was one of them, playing just 17 minutes and not taking many shots, but he finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks. Kenny Goins was another, finishing with his best game in quite some time, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds. It looks like Goins might benefit from Bridges being back because he won’t be relied on to do so much.

Matt McQuaid also played well, posting his best game in a while, scoring 12 points of 2-of-3 three-pointers. It looks like he finally got his confidence back.

Lourawls Nairn finished with just two points and three assists in 20 minutes while Alvin Ellis III was quiet in 15 minutes, scoring just five. Kyle Ahrens had a nice three-pointer to go along with three rebounds as he provided a spark off the bench.

Jan 4, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) brings the ball up court against Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Corey Sanders (3) during the second half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Starters: A

The starters fared very well in this contest. Michigan State looked like it found the right combination of players to start the game. The Spartans’ starting five out-played Rutgers’ unit immensely, leading to the 28-point blowout.

While Matt Van Dyk was more of a replacement for Bridges who will inevitably get the start in a couple of games, maybe even against Penn State, he played very well. The senior walk-on is starting to take the shape of Colby Wollenman who was forced into action after starting his career as a walk-on as well. He finished the game with seven points and three rebounds in 13 minutes.

Nick Ward occupied the other forward position and played well yet again. The big man was coming off his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor of the year and proved he might be in line for his fourth. He finished the game with dominant post play to go along with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks.

Freshmen Josh Langford and Cassius Winston cracked the rotation yet again and both played consistently despite not putting up a ton of points. Winston finished with two points and eight assists and Langford had eight points and four rebounds — he’s an underrated rebounder.

The surprise of the game was Eron Harris. The senior guard emerged from Izzo’s doghouse to finish with a game-high 24 points. His confident shooting re-emerged and he was 7-for-12 from the floor and 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

This unit played well together.

Jan 4, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) and Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Deshawn Freeman (33) fight for position during the first half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Rebounding: C+

It wasn’t a pretty sight for the Spartans on the boards Wednesday. Although they weren’t out-rebounded, it felt that way because of the Scarlet Knights’ ability to crash the offensive glass.

Far too many times, the Spartans allowed offensive boards to Rutgers which, in turn, forced the defense into another 30 seconds of hard work. There were times when the Scarlet Knights got two and three offensive rebounds in a possession, but it’s a miracle that Michigan State ended up dead-even on the board with them, 34-34.

Just hot poor was the rebounding on the defensive side of the ball? Michigan State allowed Rutgers to grab 15 offensive rebounds, which is almost unheard of. When a team finishes with nearly as many offensive as defensive rebounds, you know there’s an issue.

Yes, I get the size discrepancy, but Izzo has coached smaller teams before and rebounding has still always been a strength. Sometimes it’s not the size that affects rebounding, but the toughness and ferocity of teams.

Michigan State needs to box out better and maybe with the return of Bridges, the Spartans will figure out a way to win the battle of the boards.

Jan 4, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Eugene Omoruyi (11) drives the baseline against Michigan State Spartans guard Joshua Langford (1) during the first half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Defense: B-

This was one of the areas of weakness for the Spartans on Wednesday night. Michigan State would begin each half slowly, but then find its groove before allowing the Scarlet Knights to close on high notes.

In fact, Rutgers scored 13 points in the first four minutes of the game, which is unacceptable, but then accounted for just 13 in the next 14 minutes. It then finished the first half by scoring six points in the final two minutes. That meant that 19-of-32 points were scored in the first four and final two minutes of the half while the middle 14 consistent of solid defense.

Michigan State needs to find a way to lock down on defense early on and force a team to play catch-up for the rest of the game. The Spartans did that from the 16-minute mark on, but imagine if that 13-point burst early on didn’t happen — the game could have been over by halftime.

Defending without fouling continues to be an issue for the Spartans. A lot of it has to do with a lack of size and whenever the ball is dropped into the post, the Spartans are almost forced to over-compensate with physicality, leading to free throws. Rutgers shot 27 on the game, making only 12, luckily.

Jan 4, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) brings the ball up court against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Passing: A+

Was this the best passing game of the season for Michigan State? It’s very possible. The Spartans are one of the top passing teams in college basketball, ranking fifth in the country with 18.9 assists per game, building off what they did a season ago.

Last year, the name of the game was passing to find the open man. Denzel Valentine was one of the best passers in the nation and Winston has replaced him as the team’s top distributor with Tum Tum a close second.

Their 26 assists against Rutgers on Wednesday night was the most since the Spartans’ win over Youngstown State (28) and the third most on the year, also trailing the Mississippi Valley State game (33). When this team passes the ball well, there’s not a program in the country that can slow it down.

Obviously the pass of the night had to go to Winston lobbing it up to Bridges on a breakaway late in the second half for a one-handed alley-oop. It made Sportscenter’s top-10 plays at No. 2 and had the Breslin crowd on its feet. That also led to a 23-9 run to close out the game.

Good passing is contagious and Winston’s eight assists were big for the Spartans. Harris finished second with four and Tum Tum had three.

Dec 30, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo talks to guard Eron Harris (14) during the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Shooting: A

This was one of those games that gave me flashbacks to last year’s team. Michigan State had an all-time great game against Rutgers on the road last year in which Bryn Forbes made nearly a dozen threes of his own and the Spartans continued their hot shooting against the Big Ten’s bottom-dweller.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for January

Michigan State got the game started off slowly, falling behind 13-11, but then rebounded with some smart shots and open ones, at that. The only knock against the shooting I had in this one was the fact that Ward attempted a 15-foot jumper from the top of the key that nearly ended with his benching — it wasn’t a pretty sight.

The Spartans did, however, make 58 percent of their field goals and 11-of-22 three-pointers on the day. A couple of major surprises were Harris and McQuaid who combined to go 7-for-11 from behind the arc.

Wednesday also happened to be the Spartans’ second-best free throw shooting game of the season, making 16-of-22, but both Ward and Nairn need to work on their freebees.

Overall, this was a phenomenal shooting game which led to 93 points and some confidence moving forward.