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Michigan State basketball's blowout loss at Minnesota highlights alarming trends

Before Michigan State basketball began one of the worst Big Ten starts in Tom Izzo’s 26-year career, when the Spartans stood 6-0 and among the top 5 teams in the country, the Hall of Fame coach hinted at something.

He was talking about figuring out how minutes among his interior rotation might work out. But it now seems to be a prescient glimpse into what has happened since.

“We might have to sacrifice a little early,” Izzo said, two days before MSU got cold-cocked at Northwestern in the conference opener.

The words he used after that 79-65 defeat Dec.