Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch shares his three quick takes off Michigan State basketball's 86-79 exhibition loss to Marquette at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 25.

1. MSU has some issues in the frontcourt

There were some good things that came out of Michigan State’s exhibition loss at Marquette on Sunday. And we’ll get to them. But MSU’s last two exhibition games have made it clear that the Spartans have issues in the frontcourt — at center, where transfer Anton Bonke played just three minutes Sunday after playing only six against Connecticut (and none in either second half), and at power forward, where they’re getting very little out of Cam Ward and not enough from Coen Carr.

There are advantages to these high-level exhibition games. The disadvantage is that you don’t have an opportunity for the sort of confidence-gaining outing you might get against a lower-tier opponent, where things come a little easier. MSU will have to wait for the regular season for that, which begins at home against low-major Quinnipiac on Nov. 2.

Bonke clearly isn’t providing what Tom Izzo and Co. were hoping for at this point. And, given that he only was given three minutes Sunday (tallying one rebound), that’s coming from practice, too. He’s behind Jesse McCulloch, who started Sunday, and freshman Ethan Taylor on the depth chart. And behind the option of playing small ball without a center at all. 

The season hasn’t started yet, so there’s time for Bonke to be the presence the Spartans thought they were getting when they brought him in. And there probably will need to be an adjustment on the staff’s part in terms of how he’s used defensively, if they want him to be part of the rotation. It does’t look like he can hedge high on ball screens the way Carson Cooper could. Ideally, MSU wants that from its center.

The Bonke story is an early disappointment for the Spartans. Ward's and Carr's performances also haven’t been inspiring.

Ward looks like he’s pressing. Like he wants to be able to do more than he can right now, like he was expecting to take a step this season and it’s not happening. I think he’s got to just go back to trying to impact games the way he did early last season — by playing with physicality on the glass and around the rim. Be the guy who cleans up everything and crashes hard. There’s time for everything else. Defensively, you can see his value. There was a play Sunday where he switched onto a Marquette guard on the perimeter and forced a shot-clock violation. His defensive versatility is an asset. His offensive game isn’t where he’d like it and it’s showing.

Carr started at power forward, where I think he’ll play a fair bit this season, given the trio that’s emerging at the 1-through-3 spots (more on them below). Every once in a while, Carr will show us the menace he can be on the boards. It’s just not consistent enough. He’s a force in transition. And he can be effective attacking in the half court. We saw that Sunday, when he caught the ball at the elbow, drove and drew contact at the rim to get to the free-throw line. That should be a bigger part of his offense and MSU’s offense.

2. Good signs from Jordan Scott

The sooner Jordan Scott realizes he’s a bona fide guy offensively, the better it is for MSU’s basketball team. There are signs he’s figured that out. Five days after taking eight shots in 29 minutes against Connecticut, Scott took 13 in 32 minutes, including taking seven 3s, making three of them and scoring 18 points.

Scott wasn’t hunting shots, but he was looking for them. He’s one of the better defensive and rebounding guards in the country already — he had four blocks, three steals and three rebounds, too, on Sunday. But he should also be taking a dozen shots a game. He has the goods to be a headliner on both ends.

3. A trio that continues to emerge

Jeremy Fears Jr., Jasiah Jervis and Jordan Scott started together Sunday. Whether that continues, we’ll see. But I think they’re going to play a lot together, including to close games. That trio is MSU’s advantage — a senior All-American point guard, a freshman who looks like MSU’s next great guard, and a sophomore in Scott who has a chance to be one of the better all-around players in college basketball. If you pair them with a decent frontcourt, you’ll have a contender.

Jervis is such a confident and smooth offensive player. And he’s a shot-maker. You see it with certain guys — like we did with Jace Richardson a couple years ago. You just expect the ball to go in when he shoots.

Those three combined for 55 points Sunday. Jervis and Scott hit seven of MSU’s nine made 3-pointers. The Spartans have something with these two, and, of course, with Fears. That, a least, they can feel good about coming out of the exhibition season.