MSU basketball falls at UCLA, 63-61, loses Big Ten lead: 3 quick takes

1. UCLA is good, but MSU also didn’t look like a Big Ten champion

Michigan State spent December and January racing out to a lead in the Big Ten standings. It was a charmed two months, aided by the schedule, but also earned with their consistency, versatility and grit, home and away.

The Spartans looked like they had a little something to them on their way to 9-0 in conference play. At 9-2, we’re going to find out if that’s true.

Two games into February, the Big Ten lead is gone after a 63-61 loss at UCLA Tuesday night, and the Spartans are facing their first credible doubts of the season. Are they good enough to win the Big Ten? They didn’t play like it over two games in Los Angeles.

Yes, the story would be different if Jaden Akins’ last-second 3-pointer hadn’t hit the rim. Same perhaps if Jaxon Kohler’s hook shot a possession earlier hadn’t also been short (or, after Kohler got his own rebound, if they’d called a timeout before he traveled). Or if a few of MSU’s sometimes ridiculous turnovers had instead found their target. Or if a number of open, in-rhythm 3s had fallen.

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MSU showed plenty of mettle in the final 10 minutes of Tuesday night’s game and clawed back to even once Frankie Fidler checked in and Jaden Akins got going. Before that, at no point after UCLA took control of the game late in the first half did it seem like MSU was going to win this thing.

This one will sting the Spartans for several reasons — the turnovers, the looseness with the ball, a few missed opened shots at key times, a couple bad sequences, the shot-clock violations in big moments, the mid-game struggles with ball-screen defense and in-bounds plays, the coaching staff not finding the right answers for matchups in the ways they have all season.

This will also be painful because of what it followed — MSU lost a game at USC on Saturday that it would have won had it showed up then with the tenacity it began with Tuesday. The Spartans needed to make up for that misstep and had a chance to do it against a better opponent.

UCLA is a really good team that’s playing well. Some of the Spartans’ issues Tuesday night were caused by the Bruins, who have an emerging 7-foot-3 big man who’s becoming a problem and collectively do not allow for teams to run against them. Hence MSU’s mere nine fast-break points and point guard Jeremy Fears repeatedly driving into trouble when he tried to force the issue (He’ll have to learn from that.). The Bruins’ early January struggles are going to keep them out of the Big Ten race, but that team should be a factor in March and will win a lot of games before then.

If the Spartans had won this game, they would have done so on the road on a night Jase Richardson missed all six of his shots (before leaving the game after colliding with Xavier Booker), and on a night when they committed 16 turnovers (to UCLA’s three) and made just 5 of 22 3-pointers. They would have done so with improved defense late in the game (UCLA made just 30% of its second-half shots) and a massive rebounding advantage (45-27).

And that would have been extremely helpful in MSU’s quest for a Big Ten title — the Spartans are now a half-game back of 10-2 Purdue. It would not have quelled concerns, however, that this group isn’t quite at the level needed to do something special on a national scale or even a conference scale.

There’s lots of time and games left — time for this team to keep growing and prove itself capable … or not. The schedule is mostly ruthless the rest of the way. If MSU is good enough, we’ll know it.

This wasn’t a bad loss on its own. Just a bad trip. It wasn’t the deciding game of a season. But it did seem telling.

2. Akins comes to life, but there are some shots MSU needs him to hit

MSU senior Jaden Akins broke out of whatever fog and slump he’d been in the last few games with a determined effort that included some critical plays and shots made. You’ll take 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including 3-for-7 from deep, with four rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. That’s an OK line.

And he made some important shots — including early 3s in both halves and seven points over the final nine minutes. He was aggressive in getting to the basket and played fearlessly down the stretch.

If MSU is going to win the league or four games in a row in the NCAA tournament, however, there are some shots that he missed that he’s got to make, two that stood out — an open 3-pointer late in the shot clock when MSU trailed 54-46 and was barely hanging on (he did hit one right after that), and another wide-open 3 with MSU trailing 25-24 that turned into a 3 by UCLA the other way and was the beginning of the Bruins separating themselves for a while. Akins also had a chance to put MSU ahead by three points on a difficult driving layup with three minutes remaining. Again, UCLA hit a 3 on the other end to go back ahead.

It’s a lot to ask. But it’s what Akins asked for — to be that guy.

He had the right mindset Tuesday. That means something. But he — or someone else — is going to need to hit those key-moment shots.

3. MSU needed more of Kohler and Fidler

Figuring out the best lineup when things aren’t working is not an easy dance on a team with 10 viable options. And MSU’s coaching staff has countered opposing matchups and pulled the right levers most of the time this season. But I thought they were slow to realize Frankie Fidler was an answer in the second half and slow to go back to Jaxon Kohler until late, when his scrappiness instantly created extra possessions.

Fidler was outstanding during the back half of the second half. I’m not sure how much he would have played if Jase Richardson hadn’t left the game after running into Xavier Booker. Fidler had played a couple minutes earlier in the half, but Richardson exiting was his opening. His three points, four rebounds and a steal over the final 9:41 were as loud a three points, four rebounds and steal as I can recall. You felt his impact on the game.

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