Michigan State Basketball: Takeaways from impressive road win over Maryland
Michigan State Basketball avenged their loss last week to Maryland with a victory Saturday night. By preventing the Terrapins from clinching at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, the Spartans positioned themselves in a comfortable spot that will allow them to learn more about themselves as the tournament approaches.
The last time Michigan State Basketball (18-9,10-6) faced off versus Maryland (21-5,11-4) the Terrapins came away with a 67-60 victory at the Breslin Events Center on February 20th. That contest was decided with 3:25 left in the game, when the Spartans simply stopped scoring, allowing Maryland to end the game on a 14-0 run.
With losses by #16 Penn State, #23 Ohio State, #20 West Virginia and #22 Texas Tech prior to their tip-off, the nationally ranked #24 Spartans had an opportunity to make another considerable move in the Associated Press rankings for the second consecutive week.
It was not just movement in the polls that was on the line in Saturday’s game from the Xfinity Center, Michigan State was playing to preserve their opportunity to win at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Michigan State may have stopped scoring in the final 3:25 of the last game, but on Saturday they used the first 3:57 to build a 14-2 lead. Maryland was able to tie it a 23 with a Ricky Lindo Jr three-pointer, the Spartans never trailed in the game.
If the start of the first half was not indicative as to how the game would eventually play out, the end of the half provided some foreshadowing as Cassius Winston made a launched shot from beyond half court at the buzzer to send Michigan State into the locker room with a 40-29 lead.
More of the same would mark the start of the second half as Michigan State would connect on their first 8 field goals to extend the lead to 56-40. With under nine minutes, Maryland made an 8-0 run to close the gap to nine, but that would be the closest they would get eventually losing 78-66 at home.
After this victory, Michigan State will undoubtedly move up in the AP polls, but if your Tom Izzo, what could be learned from this game is much more valuable.