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Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from blowout win over Houston Baptist

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 18: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives around Braxton Bonds #30 of the Houston Baptist Huskies during the second half at the Jack T. Breslin Student Events Center on December 18, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 107-62. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 18: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives around Braxton Bonds #30 of the Houston Baptist Huskies during the second half at the Jack T. Breslin Student Events Center on December 18, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 107-62. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball recorded its most lopsided win of the 2017-18 season over Houston Baptist and here’s what we learned.

Tom Izzo’s message was received after Saturday afternoon’s tight win over Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies made the Spartans look extremely beatable but Michigan State wasn’t going to let Houston Baptist hang around for 35-plus minutes.

In fact, the Spartans put together a 21-point lead by halftime and then extended it in the second half to win 107-62. It was the highest point total this year’s Spartan team had accumulated and it looked like the start of an explosive offense.

We learned a few things about this team’s strong performance against the lowly Huskies, but the Spartans are still somewhat a mystery.

What’d we learn from Michigan State’s lopsided win over Houston Baptist?

5. The bench is finally starting to perk up

Michigan State has a relatively deep team, but you wouldn’t know it given the lack of scoring, and minutes, to come off the pine. The Spartans have usual 10-plus minute contributors such as Matt McQuaid, Tum Tum Nairn and Gavin Schilling, but they haven’t been putting up big numbers this season.

The Houston Baptist game saw McQuaid put up eight points and five rebounds. He was 3-for-5 from the floor and made two of his four 3-pointers. He played 17 minutes off the bench and looked like his old sharpshooting self.

Nairn played 23 minutes but didn’t score a single point. That’s not his game, though, as he finished with give assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Lastly, Schilling added seven points, seven rebounds and a steal. Don’t sleep on guys like Xavier Tillman, Kenny Goins or Ben Carter, either. Tillman scored eight points with three rebounds and a block, Goins had two points, two blocks and a rebound and Carter added a point, a block and two assists.

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