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Michigan State Basketball: Toughness the key to 2017-18 Big Ten title

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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With a Big Ten regular season title on the line, Michigan State basketball rose to the occasion to blow out the Illinois Fighting Illini.

It wasn’t exactly how Michigan State planned on winning the Big Ten title, but the Spartans came together to win 11 straight games after a 4-2 start in conference play. Thanks to some upsets of Purdue and Ohio State, the Spartans were able to vault into first place and clinch the title on Tuesday night over Illinois.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for February

Every Michigan State Big Ten regular season title team seems to have a theme. The last time Michigan State won the crown was 2013 and the last outright title was 2009. Those teams happened to be pretty successful despite not winning it all in March.

This year’s team has an interesting theme: mental toughness. No, they may not always be the toughest team on the court — see: Michigan State vs. Iowa — but they remained extremely even-keeled despite off-court distractions.

Amid the OTL report which questioned the character of Tom Izzo by alluding to the fact he may have mishandled some assault cases of former players, the Spartans prevailed. They were bombarded with questions about their coach as well as how they felt about the Larry Nassar survivors.

In a season which should be have a celebrated one with an easy run to a Big Ten title turned into a drama-filled campaign with a black cloud seemingly posting up over East Lansing.

Despite all of this, the Spartans held strong. This year’s regular season title wouldn’t have been possible without leaders such as Tum Tum Nairn, Cassius Winston and Miles Bridges. Even role players such as Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter were credited with being incredible leaders on and off the court.

Although the Spartans may have been knocked for not being tough enough, they shook the criticism and pulled off come-from-behind win after come-from-behind win. Sure, they shouldn’t shouldn’t have been behind as much with the talent they have, but not many teams can make comebacks look so seamless — 27 points down to win at Northwestern is a prime example.

Next: MSU Basketball: 5 bold predictions for February

In the end, the 2017-18 Spartans proved to be one of the most mental tough teams in the Tom Izzo era, and that’s something to be proud of.

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