Coaching Corner - +3/-3 MSU vs. Indiana,

+3 1. Matt McQuaid. Simply, Matt McQuaid. We don't build the lead without him in the first half. The shot he hit with just over a minute left, following one of the worst 4 minutes stretches of basketball in history, was the shot of the game. We saw him start to break out last game against Penn State and he built on that as the MVP of this game. 2. A road win in the B1G. You saw all the upsets today. Never easy to win one in Bloomington. To make sure you are a top 3 seed, win the games you are supposed to win. 3. The #1 field goal percentage defensive team in the nation held Indiana to 29%. This team still really is struggling to find their way in the half-court offense. But when Ward isn't getting post touches, and a lack of players who can attack off the bounce, you see an offense that results in getting mediocre shots. Luckily, we guard you. Half-court defense and Matt McQuaid won this game tonight. -3 1. Gave up 25 offensive rebounds. Looked just like the Duke game in that fashion. Some effort, some technique, some long, some because IU missed so many shots, but twice as many as you can even stomach. As Tom said in the presser, "we weren't the tougher team." 2. Some "little things" that probably aren't little things hurt. Shot 47% at the FT line including Cash missing two late. Bridges even contesting the shot with 3 seconds left was mind-blowing. Jackson with the turnover with a couple minutes left when we had Bridges for a lob dunk after Izzo set up a perfect play. Izzo referenced "little things" in the presser and a lot of those we didn't do, especially in the second half. 3. Not enough from Miles Bridges. 7 points on only 7 shots. Love the 8 rebounds. 4 turnovers. NEEDED his offense in the last 5-minute stretch and he couldn't produce on that end. He is coming off a really good stretch, kids are going to have games like tonight, but we won't win many big games with him getting 7 points on 7 shots. Coaching Corner * Some new wrinkles from MSU in the half-court, especially for Josh Langford. Love to see the new late-season looks out of MSU's playbook. Didn't result in many buckets this game, but those are going to be refined for March. * With Bridges at the 4 against Penn State, I thought MSU ran some great things to get Bridges looks off curls and dribble hand-offs. Ran one post set for him tonight and he got an "And 1." Izzo alluded to not putting him in a good spot to score in the press conference. Having him catch it and size up his man to beat him off the bounce is not going to happen. If he is going to play the wing, MSU needs to run more of those 3 type of sets (curls, hand-offs, post ups) to allow him to create quality shots. Extras * Nick Ward with a huge defensive stop on Morgan late. Jackson switches onto a guard and manages to recover to a block late. Two very big defensive plays with the game on the line. * I REALLY don't get Goins for Jaren Jackson around the 5-minute mark. Izzo catches some heat for personnel decisions but I can see the reasons for just about every last one of them. Except for this one. He got scored on by Morgan in an isolation play. Then he fouled Morgan on an iso. Then he caught it and passed it immediately. Jackson didn't appear to be tired in that stretch and wasn't in foul trouble. He may be our best overall player when he's on the floor. If you need Kenny in there for whatever reason, I just don't think it can be for Jackson. * Only 7 points for Cash. But 7 assists and 0 TURNOVERS. That's what you need out of the PG. 0 turnovers for Tum. Means 0 turnovers out of the PG position. Really good. * I went to a JuCo game today and the GR Drive G-League game tonight. The first game had about 205 points and the second one about 220. It was very physical. Yet, about half the fouls called as in the MSU game. Both teams in the bonus in the first 8 minutes. I wonder why "freedom of movement" was not needed for teams to score in those games? The college game is differently officiated than any of the other level of games around it and it sucks.