As we tip off a brand new college basketball season, expectations are sky-high in East Lansing.
Spirits are not.
Not after the Spartans, ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll, suffered a big upset in the season opener Monday night at the hands of James Madison.
Falling 79-76 in overtime to the Sun Belt Conference favorites, MSU lost its first November home game ever under Tom Izzo.
After a slow start to the game — MSU trailed 25-12 with under 7:00 to play in the first half — the Spartans were able to claw back into the contest thanks in big part to Tyson Walker, who finished the night with 35 points, his highest total since transferring to MSU before the 2021-22 season.
Outside of Walker, though, MSU couldn’t get much going. The Spartans finished a dismal 1-for-20 from three-point line.
But what was more concerning was the Spartans’ brutal night at the free throw line. MSU was 23-for-37 (62%) from the stripe.
The Spartans had a chance to win the game on the final play regulation, but Walker missed somewhat of a forced shot, sending the game to OT at 68-68.
The Dukes iced the game away with a Raekwon Horton three-pointer with 10 seconds left in overtime to extend their lead to four. That triple gave Horton his only points of the night.
Walker couldn’t get a shot off on the last play of the game after going the length of the floor with just 2 seconds to play.
MSU hosts Southern Indiana on Thursday before heading to Chicago next week to face No. 2 Duke in the Champions Classic on Tuesday.