For some, it’s hard to conceive that a gut check would come for a basketball team in early January during only the second week of the conference slate.
It can happen, and did to the Michigan State Spartans, who rallied to win a pair of Big Ten games that could have gone either way. On Thursday, the Spartans knocked off the Iowa Hawkeyes on the road after falling behind by double-digits at halftime. In some sense, it was astounding that Michigan State turned the game into a massive blowout.
Then on Sunday, they followed it up with a short turnaround win against a Northwestern Wildcats team that shot lights out from three point land. Arguably, Northwestern deserved to win just as much as the Spartans given their shooting exhibition and toughness displayed. Somehow, Michigan State dug deep and found a way to gut it out on a day they clearly weren’t feeling completely energized.
If the Spartans have truly turned a corner this early, that could be bad news for the rest of the Big Ten opposition. Following an ugly overtime loss to the Maryland Terrapins, there was some definite confusion as to which way the Spartans were trending. Michigan State responded with a home blowout of a solid Indiana Hoosiers team, then put together the clutch pair of wins just discussed. Suddenly, they were able to right the ship in a big way when people had begun to question if the team had the heart and guts it takes to make a serious Big Ten run and even continue their NCAA tournament appearance streak.
The best part from a Michigan State perspective was the team showed tenacity to the finish in all three of their recent wins. The Spartans have suffered some excruciatingly close losses this year (overtime against Notre Dame comes to mind) simply because they couldn’t make the key plays down the stretch and show the mental and physical toughness to push through and close a game.
Now, with these three wins to their credit, the Spartans have proven they can lead a blowout, turn a hotly contested road game into an eventual blowout and still sneak by when they didn’t play their best in a close game. The confidence gained from these early conference learning experiences could be immeasurable over the span of weeks and months.
Rest easy, Michigan State fans. There’s still a long way to go on the season, but the Spartans are back to playing the brand of basketball which has made them so successful over the past two decades, and are right in the thick of the Big Ten race. Considering the frustration early, that’s a pretty sight.
Player Of The Week: Derrick Walton, G, Michigan. With all due respect to Travis Trice who had a ridiculous week, Walton’s big game on Sunday may have been a bit more important to his team’s overall tournament health. With the Michigan Wolverines trailing the Minnesota Golden Gophers at home midway through the second half, Walton suddenly caught fire, leading the charge back from the dead. Against Penn State, Walton also contributed 12 points. Before that, he had chipped in just eight total points in Michigan’s 1-1 stretch. It’s clear that the Wolverines are a different team when Walton is healthy and clicking. They’ll need him to play at this same level to make noise in the Big Ten.
Game Of The Week: Michigan State at #14 Maryland, Saturday. The Spartans had the Terrapins on the ropes at home before falling apart down the stretch and failing to get the job done in overtime. Now, a resurgent Michigan State team will hit the road for their first Big Ten appearance in College Park. The environment should be special. The Spartans have proven they can win on the road in rowdy environments thanks to a clutch victory against Iowa and will be rested and ready after a week off. That means they should have plenty of confidence on their side in another significant game.
Stat Of The Week: +29, the rebounding margin for Michigan State over their impressive three-game winning streak which has fueled a stunning Big Ten turnaround. Prior to that, the Spartans had failed to show much toughness inside, and it was leading to their demise in all facets of the game. It’s no surprise that they returned to their roots, blasting Indiana (+22) and sneaking by Iowa (+6) and Northwestern (+1) on the glass. As Tom Izzo would say, rebounding is a team mindset first and foremost. The toughest teams do it the best and as a result, win the most games. Certainly, Michigan State has proven this lately with their tremendous turnaround on the boards.
Standings Update:
Michigan State 12-5 (3-1 Big Ten)
Michigan 10-6 (3-1 Big Ten)
Max DeMara is a senior editor at The Detroit Sports Site. You can find him on Twitter @SportsGuyTheMax