Marcus Bingham Jr.'s best ball still to come, says Tom Izzo
Marcus Bingham Jr. has been developing a bit more every year at Michigan State. Now as a senior, Bingham has turned into an everyday starter and legitimate scoring threat for the Spartans.
In Saturday’s win over Penn State, it was a truly balanced attack as 8 Spartans scored 5+ points. That included every starter scoring at least 7 points in the 80-64 win over the Nittany Lions.
Though Gabe Brown had a team-high 15 points, Bingham added his 2nd double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. That performance included 2 assists, 3 blocks and 1 made 3-pointer.
Coming into the game, Bingham ranked 2nd on the team in points per game at 10.1 while leading the team with 7.1 rebounds per game and has started all 11 contests. After the game, head coach Tom Izzo discussed Bingham’s latest performance while still believing the 6-foot-11 big man has his best ball still to come:
Tom Izzo says Marcus Bingham’s increased strength was on display today in the matchup with Harrar. “His best basketball is ahead of him,” he said.
— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) December 11, 2021
Izzo also touched on the work of point guard Tyson Walker and freshman Jaden Akins as Michigan State made it 2-0 in conference play. Walker was just 1 assist shy of a double-double of his own while Akins was a solid contributor in 21 minutes off the bench.
Izzo on Tyson Walker (10 points/9 assists): “I think he’s just getting a feel for things.” Says next thing is for Walker to start pulling up and hitting from 3.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) December 11, 2021
Izzo on Jaden Akins: “Some guys you sign and they’re never as good as what you sign. And every once in a while, you sign guys that you say, ‘Wow, this guy’s better than I thought he was.’ And Jaden’s in that category.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) December 11, 2021
Michigan State now gets a bit of a break before facing Oakland on Dec. 21 and then facing High Point before the end of the season. So far, the Spartans appear to have found a bit of a groove early in the season.