At halftime, MSU’s core four — Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper — had a combined four points on 2-for-14 shooting. MSU was in a funk most of the night and didn’t have answers on either end.

If college basketball games were 41 minutes instead of 40, the Spartans might have gotten away with it. Instead, they lost their second straight and lost one that really hurts their chances of staying in the Big Ten title race. They’ve got to get their mojo back from the start Saturday against Illinois.

2. Jordan Scott’s starting debut shows why he’s starting

MSU doesn’t want Jordan Scott to be its leading scorer yet, I don’t think. Not unless he becomes a 15-point-per-game guy every night. But he wasn’t the reason the Spartans lost Wednesday night, even if his performance in his first career start had some ups and downs. He got outmuscled and beaten defensively a few times on the block and turned it over twice. Teams are gong to attack him physically, if they have the personnel on the wing to do it. He’s got to be ready for that and his teammates have to be ready to help.

But Scott also made some shots — and did so on a night not a lot of other guys were making them and when none of Spartans’ core guys were making much. He hit a step-in jumper on MSU’s first possession and three 3s — one a huge shot from the left side to pull MSU to within 38-30, before he nearly came up with a steal seconds later, diving out of bounds, and another with a minute left as MSU tried to make a furious comeback. The 3 he missed would a been a big one, too. He finished with 15 points, on 5-for-8 shooting, with a couple rebounds, an assist and two steals. He was 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He’s got to get better there. MSU’s problem was that Scott’s points were a team-high most of the night, until a flurry by Coen Carr in the final few minutes.

This was a forgettable night in a lot of ways for the Spartans. But Scott gave what MSU should need from him offensively. I don’t think he’s ready yet to do more.

A good first night off the bench for Ugochukwu. Losing him hurt.

This looked like an ideal first night back coming off the bench for Divine Ugochucku. Then, with about 7 minutes until halftime, Ugochukwu suffered some sort of foot or leg injury, subbing himself after a defensive possession.

It was a blow for MSU for a couple reasons. One, he’s the backup point guard again, and has been more often of late, even when he was still the starting shooting guard. Secondly, he was playing really well Wednesday, making a difference on both ends during the eight minutes he was on the court.

Not everybody responds well to moving to the bench after spending a good chunk of the season in the starting lineup. Ugochukwu played with an energy as if he was trying to make a point, that he’s still a factor. And he was.