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Michigan State basketball proves it’s tougher than we thought in Maryland win

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 26: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Breslin Center on January 26, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 26: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Breslin Center on January 26, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball proved that it might just be tougher than we thought with a come-from-behind win over Maryland on the road.

With the week that Michigan State has had off the court, it seemed almost inevitable that the basketball team would take a loss over the weekend with two games in a 48-hour span. An ESPN report broke Friday about Tom Izzo’s potential mishandling of off-court issues and there were rumors about his retirement.

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Izzo shot down those rumors before Friday’s game against Wisconsin, but having to deal with that all while preparing for the Badgers looked to be a devastating force working against the Spartans.

Michigan State came away with a 15-point win to improve to 19-3, but had to immediately hit the road to face Maryland less than 48 hours later. The Terrapins took advantage of a clearly out-of-sorts Michigan State team in the first half, racing out to an 8-0 lead before the Spartans could blink and holding a 37-24 advantage at the half.

It seemed like the whirlwind of a weekend, both on and off the court, had caught up to the Spartans finally. The young team looked winded and defeated.

Then the second half began.

The Spartans looked like a completely different team, making over 60 percent of its shots while Maryland couldn’t get any clean looks. Michigan State shrunk a 13-point deficit in under five minutes, taking its first lead of the game.

Even in a game when guys like Miles Bridges and Nick Ward struggled, Josh Langford, Cassius Winston and Jaren Jackson Jr. stepped up.

With the game on the line, Jackson Jr., a freshman, made arguably the biggest block of his young career.

It really doesn’t get more clutch than that. Anthony Cowan beat his man on the first step and looked to be getting to the hoop unscathed, but Jackson Jr. swatted the shot which would have brought Maryland within two with 45 seconds left.

This is the type of toughness that seemed to be lacking earlier in the season — as recent as two weeks ago. Michigan State was criticized for its lack of toughness, but it squashed those notions today with 19 offensive rebounds and a 13-point second-half comeback.

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Give this team credit, folks. Michigan State is much tougher than we once thought and this could be a turning point in the season.

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