It’s an exhibition game, but some early concern is absolutely justified.

No. 6 Michigan State lost its second exhibition game in a week, falling 86-79 at Marquette on Sunday afternoon. This was a few days after a 78-70 home defeat to No. 4 UConn. Here are a few takeaways on the Spartans’ exhibition, the last look at the team before the results begin to count on Monday, Nov. 2 against Quinnipiac:

A New Starting Lineup?

One thing stood out before the game even began. Tom Izzo opted for a starting lineup of Jeremy Fears Jr., Jasiah Jervis, Jordan Scott, Coen Carr, and Jesse McCulloch. That took out Anton Bonke and Cam Ward from the lineup MSU began with against UConn this past Tuesday and inserted Jervis and McCulloch.

This was McCulloch’s second start in Michigan State’s three preseason games, but the first one, against Incarnate Word, was largely because Ward was out that day with an ankle injury. McCulloch also started at the four against UIW next to Bonke; he was starting at center on Sunday.

Jervis was one of the only players who completely showed up on Sunday. He hit a couple of well-timed threes during the first half and looks like somebody Izzo is going to have a hard time removing from the starting lineup when it’s time to prepare for the opener. He wrapped up with 19 points and four made three-point shots.

Scott also had a nice day while starting at the three. He's largely played and started at shooting guard, but that small forward spot feels like his more natural spot. Scott finished with 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field.

Offense Has Ways to Go

Not many teams are exactly going to be clicking on the offensive end during October, but if there has been anything holding the Spartans back from being a Final Four-caliber or title-contending team in recent seasons, it’s been the offense. 

KenPom has Michigan State’s offense at 20th in the nation in its preseason rankings. If that ranking were to hold true this year, it would be MSU’s best mark since the 2019-20 season (10th). That didn’t really look like the 20th-best offense in the nation on Sunday, though. It didn’t look like the No. 6 team in the country at all, either.

Shots just haven’t been falling yet, either. Michigan State shot just 3-of-20 (15.0%) from behind the arc against UConn. It missed 10 shots in a row at one point during the first half at Marquette as well, finishing the first half with just seven made field goals and a mere 25.9% mark from the field. MSU finished at just 39.6% overall.

What didn't help on Sunday was that it was a tough day for Jeremy Fears Jr. He played through an ankle issue that popped up during the UConn game a bit, but Marquette did a nice job containing Fears as much as a team can. He finished with 18 points and seven assists, but most of those points were on free throws, and he also turned it over six times. There's probably no reason to worry about Fears individually; this just wasn't his best day.

This isn't to say the defense was good, either. Marquette's 86 points and 57.4% mark from the field speak for themselves. Michigan State has just been a better defensive team than an offensive team in recent years.

Where is Anton Bonke?

This has been an extremely underwhelming preseason for the team’s frontcourt. McCulloch and Ethan Taylor seem fine individually, but Carr, Ward, and Bonke all struggled against both UConn and Marquette.

Michigan State could really use that high-caliber presence in the middle coming off pick-and-rolls it used to have with Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper last season. Bonke was brought over this offseason to fill in that gap, but he’s barely even playing right now. Sunday was the second consecutive exhibition game where Bonke rode the bench for the entire second half. Bonke only received three minutes during the first half, too.

“He just didn't seem as ready to play on a couple of things, but it wasn’t all his fault, too,” Izzo said about Bonke following the UConn exhibition. “There's no clarity yet, because we're one game and a half in. The clarity will come probably five games, seven games from now.”

Well, now the games count from this point on, and it doesn’t seem like Izzo completely trusts Bonke out there. The season hasn’t even officially begun, and Bonke’s role has already shrunk from the clear starting center to being a spot-minutes guy. He’s struggled, but the near-elimination of his minutes does feel a bit unusual. It's certainly not the role somebody making a seven-figure salary should be getting.

Michigan State needs Bonke to be good to realistically become the title contender it hopes it can be. The early exhibition returns certainly are not good. Bonke's lack of minutes is really going to ramp up the pressure on Taylor and McCulloch, which isn't something the Spartans really want.