disagree on Cooper- obviously he was overmatched, but good to play him here. we got the win, he got some incredible experience and will get better as we go.

Best win in years.

Really impressed with the team rebounding. Yes sissoko was amazing, but we got key contributions on the glass from others. 

love the grit. Going to be a fun year.

Wow. In no particular order:

Izzo really really wanted to win this game. When's the last time we've seen him play basically 6 1/2 guys? 

This was by far Hauser's best game ever in a MSU uniform given the competition, this was no Davidson.

I'd say it'd also be accurate to say best games ever from Sissoko and Hall too. Not only did Sissoko not foul out, he fouled out the player of the year! Maybe Hall would have past games that rival this one, either way, he was excellent tonight.

Hoggard had a below average game for him, but we got the win regardless. That says something.

Walker had a couple misses at clutch time. But, he kept coming and continued to be aggressive and sank other clutch shots. Love it. He was excellent. 

What a revelation on Sissoko. I kind of figured Izzo knew more than us. But, wow, this good against stellar competition?! Wow.

Akins is going to be great, he just needs to gain a bit more timing, it'll come soon, real soon.

At half time, I was thinking, win or lose, this team is going to be fine and compete for titles. But, dang, it sure is nice to get such a great win. Is there any doubt this team is much better than last year?! 

@derthunder I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think freshman Carson Cooper is someone who can help this team make a Final Four. If Mady isn’t playing, I’d like to see either Kohler or Hauser at the 5.

@spartypants I suspect he'll be serviceable by the start of Big Ten play.

I love how aggressive Hoggard is in the paint and his ability to get to the rim, but he needs to realize that driving to the rim, stopping and picking the dribble up against a 7 footer and then trying to shoot around him with an acrobatic shot is just not going to happen every game. He did this quite a bit against Gonzaga and Kentucky already and it's incredibly frustrating.

Walker needs to keep shooting. Shooters don't worry about missing two in a row because the third one is going in. 

The growth of Sissoko is astounding. "The light has gone on" for him and yeah he picked up some cheap fouls against Timme and Tshiebwe, but I'm going to chalk that up to the "All-American effect" and those guys getting those calls. Maybe with how Maddy performed against them, some of those calls start to go his way moving forward. I also love his energy and emotion on the court. (Very Tillman-esque so far!)

Held Kentucky to 28% from 3. That's a solid effort against a team that is supposed to have the shooters that they do. Frederick was almost a total no show other than one 3 pointer late. 

It felt like State was missing a ton of free throws, and yet they finished 23 of 27. They definitely didn't miss many down the stretch which is maybe the more important part. I think they were 11 of 12 in the overtimes.

Side note to the game: In this event, every year we hear all game about how Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky are the elite recruiters and always have the top guys and just usually ignore State. It was nice to hear Vitale actually bring up this next class for State and literally named every player in the class and how highly rated they are and how bright the future is moving forward. 

On to Villanova...

@spartypants I also expect Cooper to be serviceable by B1G play.  I love that he's getting some limited minutes in big time games like this.  We're going to need him to be at some point this year.  I love Kohler, but feel Cooper has more potential on the D end, especially this year until Kohler has a little more time to work on lateral quickness.  Joey defending the 5 against a true big is also a concern.  So if Mady ends up fouled out against a true B1G post and we need a stop late, I'm hoping and expecting Cooper can develop into the guy who can do it within the next month or so.  Regardless, great performance and win last night and now on to 'Nova!  Go Green!

I already feel better about having Sissoko as the center than I ever did about having Bingham. I liked Bingham but while he did some things well, Sissoko appears to understand nuances of the game better, like screening, positioning, decision-making.

I loved the rebounding and the fact that 5 players had at least 5 boards.

While Hoggard made a few mistakes, he did have almost a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio (9-5). I love that he continues to hit free throws.

Hauser is playing like someone who could make an all-conference team. The Gonzaga game didn’t bother me because it was a unique situation.

I attribute this team’s toughness to the changing of the guard in its leadership. Hoggard is a bulldog. I also think the consistent energy from Holloman and Kohler has an atmospheric influence on the team. 

@hazelmotes I bought in to Bingham all the way at the start of last year.  After his stint with Covid, he never really recovered.  Maybe at the end of the season. Even before that, he was inconsistent from game to game and sometimes minute to minute.

Sissoko seems like he will be much more consistent and reliable.  Just what this team needs.

@plavey25 FT were an underdiscussed element in that game.  MSU hit theirs and UK missed some big ones late in both regulation and the first OT...lots of 1-2 splits from them when it counted most.

@spartypants Right now, he's not ready for the demands of a game like that one...but the FInal Four isn't at stake right now.  As Izzo's been hammering this offseason and even now, trust the process.  The idea is to get the two freshman bigs ready to be capable of really helping when it matters by the end of the season.  What Cooper has going for him is the physical tools to help.  Right now, it's about understanding (or lack thereof) as much as anything else.  It's not crazy to think there will be development in that area from him over the next 3 months.

Totally hope I’m wrong re: Cooper, but my gut tells me he’s the next Brograkis, Austin Thornton, Travis Walton. I think he can make an impact down the road, but I’m not counting on him helping us this year. He’s going to need more time in the system. I mean Mady was a bit player at best the last two years, and definitely looked out of place as a freshman.

I personally was a bit confused why Cooper was on the floor vs Oscar. I feel like Kohler should have got those minutes because he could at least pull Oscar out on the defensive end. Again, would love him to contribute but unfortunately not many cupcakes to give him quality minutes right now. 

@spartypants Why is Travis Walton in that group?  He played 19mpg as a freshman and was a high level defender from the moment he stepped on campus.

As for Cooper, look...they're going to need help at the 5.  Cooper has the physical tools to be a better defensive answer than Kohler right now, so you ideally want to be able to use both, depending upon the situation.  He's bigger than Jaxon and he's also better athletically.    Right now, the game is too fast for him and he struggles when he sees the floor, but it's a process.  How you get to be functional and capable of helping is by learning.  MSU is likely to continue to give both of the freshmen opportunities to play...they more or less have to, because Mady isn't going to play 40 minutes even if he's avoiding foul trouble.  I'm reasonably confident both players will look different in late February than they do now, and that's what they're working toward...being capable of helping when it really matters most.

@rodmsu1968 good call on Walton, he should not have been added to that group. While he didn’t become a reliable scorer until he was an upper class man, he did contribute nicely as a freshman.

It didn’t cost us vs Kentucky, but the stretch that Cooper was on the floor was tough. Hoping he can learn from it and help us come 2023!