Michigan State Basketball: The Most Telling Trends for Spartans in 2014-15

Generally speaking, Michigan State has a decent basketball team this year.

However, the Spartans haven’t always played up to expectations—they’re unranked and sit at 13-6 (4-2 Big Ten) heading into Saturday’s game at Nebraska (11-7, 3-3).

The lack of assertive rebounders has certainly plagued head coach Tom Izzo, who’s used to having bullies who can dominate on the glass. He doesn’t have many of them, if any, this season. But somehow, he has the league’s top rebounder (Branden Dawson, 9.6 RPG), the league’s No. 3-ranked offensive rebounding team and the No. 2-ranked defensive rebounding team.

With that said, the Spartans still need help on the boards. Sure, they’re good on paper, but that just goes to show you that while numbers never lie, they don’t always tell the entire story.

Izzo’s Final Four and league champion teams were legitimately great on the glass, and they proved it on the court, not with favorable stats like the 2014-15 team, which hasn’t downed a ranked opponent all season.

There have been both positive and negative influences on Michigan State, and it’s time to take a look at what makes the Spartans click (or not click).

Can’t Buy Free Throws

Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

The Spartans are bad at the line—we’re talking all-time bad during the Izzo era. There are shooters, which Izzo has, and there are free-throw shooters, which he obviously doesn’t. As a team, Michigan State makes 63.2 percent of its foul shots.

That’s the worst clip in the Big Ten, and Travis Trice is one of the team’s major offenders. After making 81.8 percent from the line as a junior, the senior point guard has dipped below 70 percent from the stripe (69.4 percent).

Frequency, or lack thereof, was part of his success in 2013-14. He averaged roughly one attempt per game. This season, he averages just more than three. Drawing contact and getting to the line are primary duties for point guards, and Izzo’s fourth-year grinder simply isn’t performing well in that regard.

He’s not the only one, either. Dawson’s been horrible from the line, converting just 42.9 percent of his attempts. Juniors Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes lead the team, averaging 84.6 and 82.1 percent, respectively.

The Spartans shot 70.5 percent in 2013-14, ranking No. 9 in the conference. The freebies aren’t always free for Michigan State, and that’s especially evident this season.

The Good of Trice

Yeah, so he’s not a great free-throw shooter this season. But things could be worse.

At least he’s not struggling when it comes to scoring. That’d only compound matters. Not known as a flashy type of player, Trice has strung together a handful of impressive games thus far.

In fact, his current average of 13.6 per game is slightly less than the three previous years’ averages combined. So yeah, he’s taken leaps and bounds when it comes to putting the ball into the hoop. He needs just six points to top his season high of 263 points, which he’ll likely get Saturday versus the Huskers.

He can score—he has a pair of 25-point efforts and a 26-point game—but he’s become quite the valuable helper. His 5.6 assists per game put him at No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 30 nationally. Complementing that stat is a 3.75-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is among the best in the country as well.

Still Stingy

Opponents make just 38.3 percent of field-goal attempts against Michigan State—which is the Big Ten’s No. 2-ranked team in that department. However, the Spartans need to learn to defend the three-pointer more effectively, as opponents make a staggering 39.8 percent of them per game—that’s also No. 2 in the Big Ten, as in second-worst.

Despite struggles, Izzo’s team surrenders a standard 61.8 points per game, ranking No. 5 in the league. Only Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio State and Michigan—yes, Michigan—are better in that area.

Expectations for the Spartans weren’t through the roof this season, but most expected them to compete with the top five teams in the Big Ten—and they have, but just barely. They’ll stay there if they tighten up at the line and continue to increase their rebounding output.

Dawson Factor

Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

The Spartans will certainly stay afloat if Trice continues to score at will. But he can't be the primary option. Dawson is Izzo's most dangerous athlete. Although averaging just 11.5 points per game, he's capable of dropping 20 against any given opponent.

Fortunately, he's shown signs of improvement and has scored at least 12 during the past five outings. But he's still nowhere near what was originally expected. 

That's the most disturbing trend. 

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan State Spartans basketball writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81