Tom Izzo discusses how Michigan State can get Max Christie back into rhythm

NS_headshot_clearbackgroundby:Nick Schultz•02/15/22•

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It’s been an up-and-down few weeks for Michigan State freshman Max Christie. This week, Spartans coach Tom Izzo addressed how he can get back into a rhythm.

Since dropping 25 points on Nebraska Jan. 5, Christie has reached double figures three times — a 16-point outburst against Minnesota Jan. 12, a 12-point effort against Wisconsin on Jan. 21 and a 16-point outing against Michigan on Jan. 29. In nine games since that victory over Nebraska, he’s averaging 9.0 points per game on 37.5% shooting.

In Michigan State’s most recent win over Indiana on Saturday, Christie had eight points on just 1 of 5 shooting. Monday, Izzo spoke about Christie’s freshman slump.

“He’s got to adjust a little bit,” Izzo said, via the Lansing State Journal’s Graham Couch. “But we’ve got to adjust a lot. He’s got to get shots and we’ve got to do a better job getting him shots.”

Prior to this recent stretch — including the Nebraska game — Christie was averaging 10.4 points per game on 39.7% shooting, including 35% from three-point territory. He arrived in East Lansing as a highly touted five-star recruit and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Illinois, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Michigan State comes in at No. 19 in latest AP poll

Week 14 of college basketball is in the books, and like every other week, there were plenty of upsets. Out of the 25 teams ranked in the AP poll entering the week, 16 suffered a loss over the past seven days. Six teams in the top 10 lost, as well.

The losses started at the top, with top ranked Auburn going 1-1 on the week. Auburn defeated Texas A&M, but fell to Arkansas on the road. Purdue (previously No. 3) went 2-1 on the week, picking up wins over Illinois and Maryland but suffering a blowout loss against Michigan.

Houston (previously No. 6) went 0-2 on the week, falling to SMU and Memphis in two AAC games. Duke (previously No. 7) also lost to Virginia, while Kansas (previously No. 8) fell against Texas and Texas Tech (previously No. 9) lost to Oklahoma. Houston saw a major fall from No. 6 to No. 14 following the 0-2 week.

With the majority of teams in last week’s AP top 25 poll losing this week, there are a ton of changes within the Week 15 poll.

Updated AP top 25 poll

  1. Gonzaga (21-2) (56)
  2. Auburn (23-2) (4)
  3. Arizona (22-2)
  4. Kentucky (21-4)
  5. Purdue (22-4)
  6. Kansas (20-4)
  7. Baylor (21-4)
  8. Providence (21-2)
  9. Duke (21-4)
  10. Villanova (19-6)
  11. Texas Tech (19-6)
  12. Illinois (18-6)
  13. UCLA (17-5)
  14. Houston (20-4)
  15. Wisconsin (19-5)
  16. Tennessee (18-6)
  17. USC (21-4)
  18. Ohio State (15-6)
  19. Michigan State (18-6)
  20. Texas (18-7)
  21. Murray State (24-2)
  22. Wyoming (21-3)
  23. Arkansas (19-6)
  24. UConn (17-7)
  25. Alabama (16-9)