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Michigan State Basketball: Comparing the 2018-19 Spartans to last year’s squad

By Ryan Kay

COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 5: Head Coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans shouts instructions to his team in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 5, 2019 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 5: Head Coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans shouts instructions to his team in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 5, 2019 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images /

Last Season’s Michigan State Spartans Dominance

When Michigan State defeated Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title outright, it was their first outright regular-season title since 2009, almost a decade ago. The 16 Big Ten wins for Michigan State marked a school record and the 30 overall wins were only the fourth time in school history that Michigan State had won at least 30 games.

After an early loss to #1 nationally ranked Duke in Chicago, Michigan State started to show dominance against inferior opponents against Power 5 conference teams. Michigan State would in consecutive games beat DePaul by 22, Connecticut by 20, #9 North Carolina by 18, and #5 Notre Dame by 18. Highlighted in the PK80 Victory Tournament, MSU’s defense continued to show its dominance, holding North Carolina to a school-record low for shooting percentage as they shot only 24.6% from the field, including 5.6% from three-point land. Michigan State continued to dominate in non-conference play including winning both their Big Ten games entering the new year.

Last Season’s Spartans Hype and Expectations

On New Year’s Day 2018, Michigan State was named the number one team in the country in the weekly AP poll and on January 2, MSU was also named number one in the weekly USA Today Coaches’ poll. MSU would later be ranked the number one team in the nation by the weekly USA Today Coaches’ poll during the weeks of February 12th and 19th as well.

Michigan State would go on to dominate Big Ten regular season play with only two losses. They won seven regular season games by 30 points or more and they won fourteen games by 20 points or more. They would reach the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament but was unable to win it. They would go on to earn a number 3 seed which was considered a big disappointment but would end up playing the open round games at Little Caesars arena in Detroit, Michigan. Not every national college basketball expert was predicting Michigan State to win it all but enough were to get Spartans fans excited about the chance of earning a third national championship.

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