Time to hit the panic button? Michigan State basketball is in trouble

The Michigan State Spartans got blown out at home by Duke in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, and it’s officially time to start worrying in East Lansing.

It took 21 games for Michigan State basketball to suffer a third loss last year. The Spartans who were the preseason No. 1 team in the nation have lost for the third time in only eight games and it’s time to hit the panic button.

With nearly everyone returning from last season’s Final Four team, there was a very reasonable expectation for the Spartans to win the second national championship of the Tom Izzo era.

A preseason injury to Joshua Langford didn’t look like a back-breaker at the time, but it has clearly hindered the Spartans, who got blown out at home by Duke in an 87-75 loss that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated. The Spartans haven’t looked in sync in the offense all year long as Michigan State has struggled to find a secondary scorer to take some of the pressure off of Cassius Winston at the point.

Winston was harassed by Duke all night long and scored 12 points on just 4-14 shooting. Xavier Tillman led the Spartans with 20 points, but he sat out most of the first half with two fouls, allowing the Blue Devils to wreak havoc inside on his backups.

Poor 3-point shooting didn’t help as Michigan State hit just 4-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc, but the Spartans also committed 14 costly turnovers in this game. Duke was also incredibly efficient on the offensive end, shooting 56.1 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from 3-point range.

This isn’t a classic Duke team either as the Blue Devils have struggled with their consistency for most of the season. The fact that Duke made it look so easy in East Lansing just over a week after the Spartans were upset in Maui by a Virginia Tech team that may be one of the worst in the ACC is extremely problematic considering Michigan State’s preseason expectations.

That alone is cause for concern for the Spartans, who suddenly have serious competition at the top of the Big Ten in the form of Maryland, Ohio State, and a resurgent Michigan squad. Tom Izzo is a basketball wizard who usually has his team in top form by the time the NCAA Tournament rolls around in March, but he has his work cut out for him with a mismatched squad that needs more scoring in the worst way. The return of Langford would be a big help, but even that isn’t guaranteed, so it is time for the Spartans’ faithful to start worrying.