Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from victory over No. 5 Notre Dame

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EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 30: Joshua Langford #1 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket against Temple Gibbs JR. #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Breslin Center on November 30, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

4. A confident Josh Langford changes the dynamic of the team

When Josh Langford is on, watch out. The sophomore wing has been an absolute fireball in recent games, averaging 14.1 points on the season. Michigan State is undefeated in the regular season (11-0) over the past two years when Langford sores more than 10 points and he doesn’t seem to be anywhere near cooling off soon.

Langford has scored a total of 40 points over the last two games, following up his career-high 23-point showing against North Carolina with a 17-point performance on Thursday. He made 7-of-13 shots and only needed 1-of-2 long-range makes to hit 17 points.

While shooting just two 3-pointers, Langford showed that he doesn’t need to settle for outside shots to make a difference. He said after the game that he’s not worried about offense as much but he wants to be a great all-around player. He showed that with strong defense, despite some poor fouls but needs to rebound better — in 29 minutes, he had zero boards.

That doesn’t change the fact that Langford is playing his most confident basketball as a Spartan right now and that’s bad news for everyone on the schedule. When Langford is on, Michigan State evolves into an even more dangerous team.

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