How Michigan State Won The Big Ten

With a game left in the Big Ten, MSU has already clinched the outright Big Ten title. How did this group do it?

Coming back from Hawai’i for the Maui Invitational, MSU sat at 6-2, and they almost blew a lead to UNC to close out the trip. Morale wasn’t necessarily low, but I don’t think there was a bunch of confidence surrounding the team. Then something flipped…

Michigan State rattled off 12 straight wins, and started Big Ten play 9-0, but a gauntlet down the stretch awaited them. Before getting to that gauntlet though? The Spartans dropped 3 of 4, with the losses coming to USC, UCLA, and Indiana. Then one of the toughest stretches of schedule in all of the Big Ten came up, and all of the questions started returning. How would they fare in their next 6 games with 5 being top 25 teams and the other being a road game against an Iowa team MSU has struggled with at times?

They did what champions do. They won.

They now sit on a 6 game winning streak, 15-3 conference record, an outright Big Ten title, and a most likely 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, all with one regular season game still remaining.

What Tom Izzo did with this roster is nothing short of incredible. Not that there wasn’t talent on the roster, but it didn’t always seem like playing 10 guys with no true superstar was a reliable option (yes Jase Richardson is one now, but we’ll get to that later).

Strength in Numbers was the motto this year for Michigan State, and it proved to be beneficial as they raise another Big Ten banner. But how did they go about that on the court? Let’s break down some of the film and stats of how they did it, including the emergence of a superstar.

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