Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from win over Nebraska in Week 4

Michigan State basketball has gotten off to a hot start in Big Ten play, demolishing Nebraska on Sunday night. What did we learn?

The Big Ten season started early on Sunday night as Nebraska came to town with a 6-2 record. The Cornhuskers weren’t exactly a cakewalk for the Michigan State, but you wouldn’t know that if you looked at the final score. The Spartans handled the Cornhuskers by 29 points and began the year with a 1-0 record in conference play.

Michigan State will get set to travel to Rutgers for a Tuesday Big Ten night showdown. Before that takes place, we need to look back at the Nebraska win and talk about what we learned. This team might just be the best Tom Izzo has had — at least Tim Miles thinks its the best team he’s had in his six years as Nebraska’s head coach.

What did we learn from the Spartans’ 86-57 win over Nebraska on Sunday evening?

5. Nick Ward, Jaren Jackson Jr. are scary together

One of the most feared post duos in the country resides in East Lansing. Nick Ward is a bruising big who isn’t afraid to back defenders down and create contact or just make them look silly with nifty moves in the post. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a little more of a finesse player. He can step out and hit the three, but he’s also not afraid to drive and/or back defenders down.

When those two are on the floor at the same time, Michigan State is awfully tough to score on. This isn’t just an offensive dominance these two possess, but on the defensive side of the ball, they were swatting shots left and right against the Cornhuskers.

In fact, Ward and Jackson Jr. combined for six blocks and they also had 17 rebounds and a combined 37 points. When they are on the floor together and feeding off each other, Michigan State is a dominant post team. What a far cry from last year when the Spartans were struggling to find any help in the post.