Tom Izu has coached in 23 consecutive NCAA championships and will likely extend that streak to 24 next month. This is good news for Michigan State fans. But the bad news is that the Spartans are really struggling with that particular Sunday coming up.
On Tuesday night, they lost again. Iowa whipped them 86-60.
“We just didn’t defend tonight,” Izu told reporters after the Iowa Spartans allowed 43.1% shooting from the field to hockey star Keegan Murray‘s 28-of-15 shooting.
“Kegan is a special talent and he does it in a special way,” Izu added. They have a star. He is a star ยป.
Michigan State is now a dismal 1-5 in its last six games and heading in the wrong direction. The Spartans went from 17-4 overall and 8-2 in the Big Ten to 18-9 overall and 9-7 in the Big Ten in a span of 18 days. They were replaced in the CBS Sports Top 25 and daily updated basketball rankings Wednesday by Team Iowa, which had just beaten them by 26 points and won for the fifth time in six games.
The problem for Michigan now is that things aren’t going to get any easier. Next up is a home game with Bordeaux. Then come road games at Michigan and Ohio, followed by the regular season finale at Maryland. The Spartans should be underdogs in three of those four contests, according to KenPom.com, so a .500 finish in the Big Ten is no longer a foregone conclusion. And if the Spartans don’t turn things around quickly, they could become part of the bubble conversation for the second straight season.
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