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Michigan State Basketball: Spartans playing best basketball of season before March

By Carmine Carcieri

Feb 26, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play during the second half of a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play during the second half of a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan State basketball has won four of their last five games and is tied for third place in the Big Ten.

Because of Injuries, a brutal schedule that featured trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, New York and Durham, and youth that had yet to truly grow up, the Michigan State Spartans struggled to find their footing during the non-conference schedule. Their status as a NCAA Tournament team became even more questionable after suffering surprising losses to Penn State and Ohio State and a drubbing against Michigan in Big Ten play.

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But things have changed drastically since then for Tom Izzo’s Spartans.

Michigan State is now 18-11 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten after winning four out of their last five games against Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The Spartans are tied with Minnesota and Maryland for third place in the Big Ten and are a lock to reach their 20th straight NCAA Tournament.

In fact, Sparty is playing their best basketball of the season.

Despite dealing with season-ending injuries to Eron Harris, Ben Carter, and Gavin Schilling, the Spartans’ freshmen are growing up before our very eyes.

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Miles Bridges is finally healthy again, Nick Ward is a force and a physical presence in the paint that is necessary without two veteran bigs, Joshua Langford has made four or more field goals in four of his last five games, and Cassius Winston has become a terrific table-setter (34 assists and just 10 turnovers in his last five games).

When the Spartans lost Harris, I said that this team wouldn’t be a threat to anyone in March. A week later, the script has flipped.

Sparty is still young (that isn’t changing) and they still don’t have a true shot creator (that also isn’t changing), but is there any team that wants to play against an Izzo-coached squad that is hitting their stride in the NCAA Tournament? That doesn’t mean that the Spartans are going to make their patented March run or that they are suddenly a force just because they have a Hall of Fame coach on the sideline, but there is certainly more hope for MSU fans than there was just a week ago.

It’s also important not to overreact to Sparty’s sudden change in play. The Hawkeyes, Buckeyes, and Cornhuskers are not tournament teams and the Wisconsin win came in East Lansing against a Badger team that is currently in the middle of a funk. The Big Ten is clearly down across the board this year and this inexperienced roster is benefitting from that.

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Regardless, the improvements are obvious. Bridges, Ward, Langford, and Winston weren’t ready to carry a Big Ten roster a couple months ago. Now, they are certainly headed back to the NCAA Tournament and could potentially win a game or two depending on their draw.

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