GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Even with benching, MSU's Nick Ward becoming more consistent

Chris Solari
Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING – Saturday’s win over Iowa continued a strong surge for Nick Ward. And it started on the bench.

Nick Ward top, of MSU takes a hit on the arm from Ryan Kriener ,left, of Iowa as Dom Uhl ,right, of Iowa looks on in the 2nd half Saturday. Uhl was charged with a foul on the play.

Michigan State’s freshman forward had 14 points, the fifth time in his last six games and 16th in the Spartans’ last 19 that Ward scored in double digits.

Maybe his worst game in that stretch came at Ohio State on Jan. 15. Ward, who is from nearby Gahanna, Ohio, struggled in that 72-67 loss in Columbus.

And coach Tom Izzo wants his big man to show up with a better mindset Tuesday when the Buckeyes make the return visit to Breslin Center (9 p.m./ESPN).

“I think it’s different because we’re aware of Nick going MIA and I think Nick’s still becoming more consistent,” Izzo said Monday. “He’s still a work in progress. We’re seeing a lot more consistency in practice and in games. And now, he’s been through his own rivalry game, and you handle those in two ways – you either get too up for them and lose focus or you go the other route.”

Izzo was critical of the lack of intensity his 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward displayed early at Ohio State. Ward finished with nine points and four rebounds while committing four fouls in that game.

Ward came off the bench against Iowa because Izzo said he “didn’t think he was as focused on what we wanted to do, and I’m always trying to push him academically to so I had a chance to combine the two together.”

The freshman responded with a 5-for-6 shooting performance and by going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds, an assist and a block in just 16 minutes against the Hawkeyes. Izzo said Ward “is in a good place” and expects a better performance in his second go-round against the Buckeyes.

“I don’t plan on bringing him off the bench every game. But if I have to do that, I will,” Izzo said. “I just don’t think that’s gonna be necessary. I think he understands where we’re coming from.”

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free onAppleandAndroiddevices!