Once again, Michigan State basketball went into a tough road environment to face a strong, ranked Big Ten opponent, and came away with a massive victory. The No. 8 ranked Spartans, who were an underdog in this game, took down No. 16 Maryland thanks to an insane half-court shot from Tre Holloman.
The win firmly places MSU as the No. 1 team in the Big Ten with three tough games left in the year against Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan.
Below, we put together our five key takeaways from an exciting win in College Park.
Jase Richardson has fully taken over
Jase Richardson had 34 minutes in MSU’s win over Maryland. No one else had more than 30. Jase Richardson had 15 points. No other Spartan scored in double-digits.
This isn’t meant to slight anyone on the team. This team has fully bought into ‘strength in numbers’. It’s a huge testament to this program that everyone has been humble enough to accept that gameplan.
However, Tom Izzo said earlier this season that he didn’t plan on doing a ‘strength in numbers’ approach, and that he actually hoped that someone would step up as the primary scorer. Jase Richardson has fully answered that call. As a freshman, Richardson is relaxed, poised, and absolutely lethal on offense. It’s no surprise that some NBA draft analysts are projecting him as a future lottery pick.
More Tre Holloman heroics
Against Michigan, Tre Holloman broke a relative stalemate between the rivals with a huge three-point barrage in the second half that ultimately ended up being a huge difference in the game. In the win over Maryland, as we all know, Tre Holloman won the Spartans the game with a buzzer-beating heave from half court.
This defense is entering some special territory
For the first time all season, Maryland was held below 60 points in their loss to MSU on Wednesday. Maryland’s starting five is one of the best in the Big Ten, if not the entire NCAA, and Michigan State completely shut them down. Defense travels, and it also wins championships, and MSU’s defense is starting have an argument for being one of Izzo’s best defenses ever.
The Tom Izzo coaching philosophy still works
Defense. Rebounding. Fast break points. Free throw shooting.
Tom Izzo is famous for his coaching philosophy. At times, he is infamous for it. Tom Izzo is a rightful Hall of Fame coach. He is arguably one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time. He is also stubborn as a mule, something that he has drawn some occasional criticism for over the years.
This season feels like a major statement from Tom Izzo as his Spartans continue to take down team-after-team with their tenacious defense, strong rebounding, transition baskets, and strong free throw shooting, and they did it again against Maryland on Wednesday night.
The Tom Izzo way still works. But it can it still win a championship? That remains to be seen.
MSU’s depth continues to win them games
Ten different Michigan State players played on Wednesday night against Maryland, compared to just eight players for Maryland, which includes Jay Young who only played four minutes. Even though the game ended up being close thanks to a pretty crazy couple of sequences, MSU definitely looked like the fresher team in the last five minutes of the game.
This is not a perfect Michigan State team. At times, they can struggle on offense. They turn the ball over. On Wednesday night, they even racked up 19 personal fouls. But they are able to stay in games with the aforementioned Tom Izzo method, and eventually they seem to always wear down their opponent as they run, rebound, play hard defense, and keep switching in fresh bodies, and I think that’s a huge key to their success this year.
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