EAST LANSING – Remember when the Michigan State basketball team’s three-point shooting struggles looked even worse than they did last year?
Early season worries are a thing of the past. The Spartans are doing just that while Tom Izzo continues to search for his spot at shooting guard.
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“They’re shooting better,” Izzo said after practice on Thursday, Dec. 18.
Continuing to attack from the perimeter will be key when No. 9 Michigan State takes on Oakland and Greg Kemp’s chaotic zone defense on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The game between the Spartans (9-1) and Golden Grizzlies (6-6) will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network at noon.
Michigan State’s Jordan Scott hits a three-pointer during the second half against Duke on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Although the guard-heavy team won the Big Ten by three games last season, Michigan State struggled from behind the arc, finishing at 31.1 percent, ranking 317th out of 355 Division I teams. Then through their first three regular-season games in November — after Jase Richardson left for the NBA, Tre Holloman and Xavier Booker transferred, and Jaden Akins and Frankie Fidler graduated — the Spartans shot just 13-for-60 from 3-point range. Their 21.7 field goal percentage was the third-worst in college basketball at the time.
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However, over the last eight games, Michigan State has improved a lot from the outside. The Spartans are shooting 42 percent (68 of 162) from the field during that period and currently rank 75th in Division I at 36.5 percent from 3-point range.
“Shooters are like kickers sometimes, they’re like pitchers,” Izzo said. “Sometimes, it’s more mental. You get into a little slump. I think that’s what happens.”
While Izzo continues to demand more two-way play from his shooting guards, the quartet of Divine Ugochukwu, Kuerten, Treburgh and Jordan Scott have helped improve the offense’s outside shooting. Ugochukwu, who has started the past two games while serving as backup point guard to Jeremy Fiers Jr., is shooting 64.7 percent (11 points on 17) from 3-point range over the past eight games, including a career-high 23 points on 5-for-5 shooting at Penn State.
Teng (11-for-27, 40.7%) and Ford (7-for-22, 31.8%) have also started in those eight games, while freshman Scott (6-for-18, 33.3%) continues to be the fourth starting shooting guard, his lanky 6-foot-8 frame providing long-arm defense and rebounding ability that no one else can match.
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“I think we still need to turn things around,” Scott said after practice Thursday. “I don’t think we’ve reached our potential yet.”
Further reading: Michigan State off to best start in eight years: ‘Maybe I’ll give them Christmas off’
Fiers (6 of 19 from the field, 31.6% from the field in the past eight games) and Keon Carr (4 of 15 from the field, 26.7% from the field) continue to practice their outside shooting. But the emergence of forward Jaxon Kohler as an outside threat has been a huge boost to the team’s recent resurgence.
The 6-foot-9 senior is 15-for-26 (57.7 percent) from the field over his past eight games, which has helped offset the struggles he and center Carson Cooper have struggled to score at the rim the past three games. Substitute redshirt freshman big man Jesse McCulloch has also emerged as an interior weapon shooting 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Cooper spent part of the summer adding range and is 0-for-4 from 3-point range this season, but he has been stretching defenses inside the arc.
Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler (0) attempts a three-pointer during the first half against Duke on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Oakland ranks 273rd in three-point defense (34.8%), but Kemp’s team also shoots 34.9% from three (133rd). The Grizzlies, who have won five of their past six games and topped Northern Kentucky 82-77 on Wednesday, shot 6-for-18 from beyond the arc while limiting Norse to 6-for-26 shooting using Kemp’s perimeter defense, which is important in preventing penetration into the paint.
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The Spartans hit 6 of 17 3-pointers last year in a 77-58 LCA win over Oakland, extending their all-time record against the Grizzlies in the series dating back to 1998 to 23-0. Izzo’s team has made 25 of 60 3-pointers in its past three games against Kemp.
“We learned a lot, especially watching film from last year’s game,” McCulloch said Thursday. “We took a look at it this morning to see where the attack is in the area and how to handle it, so we’ll be well prepared.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball team’s 3-point shooting drops after poor start to season