Spartans Once Again Showed Why They Are a Big Ten Title Contender
The No. 18 Michigan State Spartans (12-2) once again proved that they are one of the top teams in the Big Ten and will be a favorite to compete for a conference title and a Big Ten tournament championship, leading into the NCAA Tournament. This team is for real this year.
From what was shown by this team in Friday night's road win over the Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5), it is honest to say that this Spartan team has what it takes to earn a conference title and deep postseason run. This is a completely different team from a year ago with a lot of the same personnel.
After leading by 14 points early in the second half, the Spartans proceeded to allow a 21-6 scoring run by the Buckeyes to put them behind by one. They felt the adversity, weathered the storm, and responded with an 8-0 run of their own to defeat the Buckeyes on their own home floor.
A season ago, the Spartans let that game get out of hand and probably find a way to lose with added mistakes down the stretch. They have shown a rise in maturity and experience that has led them to being a good team in those tough moments.
A major reason for the team's ability to play well in tough road games is their depth and experience. There were three different scorers of 10 or more points for Michigan State with two others making a sizeable impact.
Senior center Szymon Zapala posted a team-high 15 points, good for a season high for the transfer from Longwood. Zapala's performance marks the eighth Spartan to lead the team in scoring this team. The Spartans have so many different players that can impact this team in a winning way.
When Michigan State finds itself in other tight conference games down the stretch this season, it will need to rely on its defensive prowess and ability to slow down the opposing top scorers, just like it did against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State junior guard Bruce Thornton was averaging 17.4 points per game coming into the contest, and the Spartans held him to just 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting and forced him to turn the ball over a team-high five times.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo was pleased with his team's ability to shut down the impact players on the other side, including sophomore forward Devin Royal, who put up 14 last year in a win over the Spartans. He had just 8 on Friday, being held to just six total shots.
"We had some trouble guarding some things and give them credit because I'm going to tell you right now, we did a decent job on [Devin] Royal, we did an incredible job on Thorton," Izzo said. "I mean, he's a hell of a player, I really like him."
The Spartans showed some flaws by allowing the late comeback, but it was all about how they responded that proved that they are built for a deep run at a championship. Depth, experience and clutch scoring with resiliency are why this team is going to be a problem come the month of March.
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