MSU better, just not better than Jahlil Okafor

INDIANAPOLIS — It is almost all good news for Tom Izzo after Michigan State’s 81-71 loss to Duke Tuesday night.

The Spartans showed promise and grit Izzo can build upon.

And next time he watches Duke center Jahlil Okafor, it’ll be on television and by choice.

Izzo has known for years what his own team could look like with Okafor as its centerpiece. Now everybody else who follows the Spartans can imagine it, too.

Duke is too much for MSU on most nights right now. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils are a dazzling collection of young talent. MSU is a less-dazzling collection of young talent.

The primary difference between the teams — a 6-foot-11, 270-pound freshman from Chicago, who Izzo chased from middle school until last year. Okafor made 8 of 10 shots Tuesday and made the game look ridiculously easy.

“You’ve just got to love a guy that wants to be what he is — he’s a center that wants to be a center,” Izzo said. - Read more at LSJ.com