Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 63-61 win over Iowa
Graham Couch
1. MSU escaped Iowa because Malik Hall returned returned with a fury
EAST LANSING – Malik Hall can’t make up for all of the time he lost in one night. But, holy smokes, he tried Thursday. That rim felt every last ounce of his frustration as he tore through the lane and dunked to give Michigan State its first lead with 4:50 left in the first half.
You’ve probably heard a lot about the impact Hall makes on MSU’s teams, analytically speaking, from me and others. The metrics are all true. But if you needed to see those numbers Thursday night, your eyes are failing you.
Hall, who had missed the last three games since tweaking his injured left foot at Illinois on Jan. 13, had some serious grateful-to-be-alive energy to him in the Spartans’ 63-61 win over Iowa. MSU was a team-best 13 points better than the Hawkeyes when he was on the court, plus-10 in the first half alone, while going into the break with a slim 30-29 lead.
Again, you didn’t need the numbers. If you watched, you knew. He was the guy who stood out. Maybe because MSU had missed him so much. Maybe because he played so aggressively. Maybe because he was the one guarding Iowa star Kris Murray, who finished with a quiet 13 points, only a few of them in the 25 minutes Hall was glued to him.
MSU, now 14-7 overall, 6-4 in the Big Ten, didn’t play all that well in certain facets Thursday night. The Spartans’ 10 turnovers were the loudest 10 turnovers I can remember. They missed key free throws late. They got off to horrible starts in each half, the first half especially, both with Hall on the bench. But they survived — thanks to massive shots by Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins in the final 90 seconds and plays from Hall throughout, including some incredible one-on-one defense on Murray along the baseline with the game tied 59-59 and barely 2 minutes remaining.
Hall finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, three rebounds and four assists and a presence you could feel when he had the ball on the block, on the drive, on the glass and when Murray had it on the other end.
MSU escaped — and won a game it badly needed — because Hall returned.
2. That’s better from Sissoko and Brooks
MSU will gladly take that from Mady Sissoko. And from Pierre Brooks, too.
Sissoko isn’t going to turn into Hakeem Olajuwon or even probably an upper-tier Big Ten center. But if he gives you 10 points, 10 rebounds — four of them on the offensive glass, two of those put-back dunks — and two blocked shots in 26 minutes, you’ll take it. Even if the guy he’s guarding finishes with 16 points and 11 rebounds (though half of Filip Rebraca’s points came in the 10 minutes Jaxson Kohler and Carson Cooper were in the game at center for MSU).
Sissoko had a couple nice buckets, one floater along the baseline that was as pretty as the shot he airballed from a similar spot was ugly. What the Spartans need from Sissoko is what he gave them on the glass Thursday and, to some degree, defensively. There was a bounce and grit to his game that’s been missing.
Brooks played just 12 minutes and didn’t take a shot other than one while being fouled in the paint, which led to two made free throws. But MSU was plus-11 when he was on the court. Partly because he played a lot with Malik Hall. Partly because Brooks played well, within himself. He had one important sequence — a strong offensive rebound and quick dish to Sissoko for the aforementioned baseline floater to bring MSU back to within 45-43 in the middle of the second half.
That showing will get Brooks back on the court.
3. Freshman thoughts – the Iowa edition
MSU’s freshmen looked like freshmen Thursday night, all three of them. It’s the first time that’s happened in a while. The Spartans were better without them most of the time against the Hawkeyes.
Here’s their combined — and somewhat telling — box score: zero points, 0-for-1 shooting, one rebound, one steal, one assist and one turnover in 17 total minutes, with a plus-minus all together of minus-8. Kohler played more minutes than that alone each of the past two games. They weren’t awful. But they weren’t as impactful or steady as they’ve been recently.
Kohler and Carson Cooper gave up at least two buckets apiece to Iowa big man Filip Rebraca, including one with a foul against Kohler. Rebraca was a pain in the butt all night. But MSU’s two youngest bigs just had no answer for his positioning and skilled game inside. He wasn’t supposed to be the toughest matchup of the night, though it often looked like it.
The most telling part of Holloman’s night was where he was when A.J. Hoggard came out of the game in the middle of the second half — on the bench. Those are usually Holloman’s minutes. Tom Izzo went with Tyson Walker running the point during that stretch. Holloman did come back in briefly, but only with Hoggard on the floor. Holloman, who has been so good defensively of late and usually smart with the ball, had a rough sequence early in the game when Iowa was building a 10-0 lead. That included a turnover on an inbound pass with the Spartans trailing 8-0.
Holloman has earned the trust that put him back on the court in the final 10 minutes of the game. He can have a bad sequence. He’s had too many solid stretches this season to react to any mishaps. Malik Hall’s return will shorten the minutes for all three of these guys to some extent. But their smaller role Thursday had as much to do with how they played and how the game unfolded.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.