Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from tight win over Oakland

Michigan State basketball needed a late surge to put Oakland away at LCA, but what did we learn from the Spartans’ win?

Oakland always seems to play Michigan State tough, and that was the case yet again on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans and Golden Grizzlies played a tight game for 35 minutes until the green and white pulled away, winning 86-73.

Michigan State looked like the No. 2 team in the country in the final minutes and it takes a tough team to put an upset bid to rest when the going gets rough. The Spartans were led by Cassius Winston who had a strong second half and a fired up Miles Bridges.

Tom Izzo has a talented team at his disposal and Oakland head coach Greg Kampe called the Spartans the best team in the country. He also said Izzo was the nation’s best coach.

What’d we learn from the Spartans’ close win over Oakland at LCA on Saturday afternoon?

5. Kenny Goins is becoming more valuable off the bench

Kenny Goins played the second-most minutes (21) of anyone off the bench and he delivered the most production off the pine. He finished with four points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. He was a stat sheet stuffer and looked the part of a sixth man.

Sure, the Spartans have Matt McQuaid, Gavin Schilling, Tum Tum Nairn, Ben Carter and Xavier Tillman coming off the bench, but Goins is becoming more valuable than the rest of his peers off the bench.

I’ll admit, I was hesitant to see Goins as a valuable bench contributor when he came back from his minor injury, but he has proven me, and the rest of the harsh critics, wrong. He was just six points, two rebounds and three assists away from a triple-double — off the bench and in just 20 minutes.

Goins will be trusted more moving forward by Tom Izzo.