EAST LANSING >> Tom Izzo issued a challenge.

After Frankie Fidler played a poor first half in Thursday’s 96-60 win over Niagara and missed a pair of layups, the Michigan State coach made it clear as day that his transfer wing from Omaha needed to be better. He needed to be tougher.

“I’ll just tell you, I challenged Frankie at halftime on any kind of toughness, on playing harder,” Izzo said after the win. “And I thought he did.”

Fidler responded with a strong second half, finishing a layup and drawing a foul to convert the three-point play. He helped the Spartans pull away in the second half, and also drained a corner 3-pointer that has eluded him so far since transferring in.

It’s been a rough transition for Fidler in some ways. He’s struggled with physical matchups and with finishing his shots, and that’s before facing Big Ten teams, or even the No. 1 team in the country this Tuesday against Kansas. Fidler has also missed free throws, something he really didn’t do much of at Omaha. Fidler’s two missed layups Thursday were especially costly because they came as part of what felt like a shared slump by Michigan State, as a series of players missed what should have been gimmes.

“If he makes those two layups in the first half, he has 15 points — that’s a hell of a game,” Izzo said.

Fidler was the most productive scorer of the starters with 11 points, but his rebounding and defense are still rounding into form. He’s going to need to be a lot better against even stronger competition. Though he responded well to the challenge, Fidler will need to perform at his second-half level by default in the future.

As far as his spot in the starting lineup as small forward, Izzo said “there’s a couple question marks” at the position. One of this MSU team’s greatest advantages is its depth, and though a lineup change is equally a decision on the defensive end about who can guard a matchup, more poor starts from Fidler aren’t going to help his case.

For now, Fidler’s second-half regenesis was a welcomed sign that he’s starting to acclimate a little better to Michigan State. Now, he’s just got to do it with more consistency.

Izzo names captains

Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman are two of this year’s captains for Michigan State. The third one is a little unique.

“We’re going to do a little something different and play on football,” Izzo said. “And each week, we’re going to name a captain that does all the things we need them to do in practice, on the court, off the court, in the classroom.”

It felt like a captaincy was a shoo-in for Akins given his experience and importance to this team. As the only returning starter, a four-year Spartan and one of the best two-way players on the team, his leadership is strong.

In Holloman, a point guard coming off the bench, Michigan State picked a player who has given a lot to help the team, whether through sticking it out at the same program in an era of transfer portal departures, or in doing his best to fill every role and need his team has asked of him.