Copyright M Live Michigan
EAST LANSING – Less than 72 hours after its first ranked win of the season, Michigan State huddled on court at the end of practice on Tuesday night. At the center was coach Tom Izzo, who is still unsure of what this group can achieve. The revamped Spartans (2-0) are riding a high from a 69-66 win against Arkansas (1-1) on Saturday but the season officially started only a week ago and there’s a brutal schedule ahead. “I think we had to see how they would do when lights go on in big game and we saw that,” Izzo said. “Now, are we immature enough, is the culture of this program disintegrated where we’ll take the next game (for granted), even though it’s not against a ranked team? That’s where your seniors and juniors got to be good.” Despite Izzo’s concerns, Michigan State is the defending Big Ten champion and moved up five spots to No. 17 in the latest AP Top 25. The Spartans host San Jose State (0-2) on Thursday (6:30 p.m., BTN) before squaring off against No. 9 Kentucky (2-0) in the Champions Classic on Nov. 18 at Madison Square Garden. “Is it a trap game? Well, of course,” Izzo said. “You’ve got Arkansas on one side and Kentucky on the other.” Michigan State shook off a loss at UConn to close exhibition play and sloppy win against Colgate to open the games that count with an inspired effort last week. Coen Carr put together an impressive, all-around performance while true freshman Cam Ward stunned the Razorbacks with 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Point guard Jeremy Fears is the team’s unquestioned floor general who had a game-high nine assists against Arkansas. He finished 0-for-7 from the floor but drew a foul beyond the arc with less than a minute to play to create the final difference. “If you’re going to be a champion, you’ve got to be a champion every day, every game, every possession and just not think you can be an up-and-down team,” Fears said. “You usually don’t win big like that so just understanding that this game is just as important as any other game.” An early-season challenge by Izzo, who brought a few football pads out during practice Tuesday, isn’t unexpected. Keeping the focus is the challenge against San Jose State – led by former Nebraska coach Tim Miles – which opened the season with an 84-75 loss at Utah and 85-74 defeat at UC Santa Barbara. “We addressed it early,” senior center Carson Cooper said. “I think those games catch people off guard when you don’t address it, you don’t address the elephant in the room, you don’t talk about it, you don’t make sure that everybody realizes what’s at stake here. We’re taking it just as serious as we did Arkansas and as serious as we will Kentucky. We’re making sure that the intensity is still there.” Michigan State is banking heavily on its veteran returners and co-captains – Carr, Fears, Cooper and forward Jaxon Kohler – with newcomers making a push for more minutes. Ward made his first big splash while fellow true freshman Jordan Scott is more ready to go than the staff expected and that’s a big deal for a squad still unsettled at shooting guard. Returner Kur Teng got the early nod but lost that spot to well-traveled transfer Trey Fort. It’s still a position very much in flux, especially after the Spartans shot 1-for-14 from 3-point range against Arkansas. “We’re pretty stable at four positions, we’re not as stable at that one,” Izzo said. “What we need is someone to either make a lot of shots or really guard somebody and if you’re not getting either one then we’ve got some problems and right now that’s where we are but it’ll get corrected, I believe.” Michigan State has plenty of time to figure out that spot along with different rotations that include a lot of new blood. The group just recorded its first big win of the season but Izzo sees the potential for more and that starts with not overlooking San Jose State. “It’s almost embarrassing that we’d even talk about it,” Izzo said. “There’s banners hanging over there and we haven’t done anything. … I don’t think we’re a really good team yet but I think we took a step in the right direction. We’ve just got a bunch of steps to take.”
