Michigan State basketball back to normal with dominant win vs. Minnesota

The losing streak is finally over as Michigan State basketball ended its three-game skid, smacking Minnesota around for 40 minutes.

Would basketball ever be fun again? That was the question on everyone’s mind after Michigan State dropped its third straight game, going from clear leader in the Big Ten standings to a full game out of first.

Minnesota came to town on Saturday afternoon looking to hand the Spartans their fourth consecutive loss, but the Golden Gophers were sent packing with a blowout loss, 79-55.

From the opening tip, Michigan State just looked different. The Spartans were motivated and smacked the Golden Gophers around, racing out to a 14-3 lead early and not relinquishing that double-digit advantage throughout the half, leading by 11 at the half.

The difference in this one? Ball protection and a motivated Nick Ward.

Minnesota didn’t stand a chance with Ward playing the way he did, with more effort and toughness, scoring 22 points to go along with nine rebounds — just missing a double-double.

Cassius Winston, too, had a nice bounce-back performance, scoring 11 points and dishing eight assists. And get this, he had zero turnovers after coughing the ball up nine times at Illinois.

Michigan State finished the game with 27 assists with only nine turnovers, playing the way it had for the first three months, or so, of the season. This is exactly what Tom Izzo needed to see from his team after facing their first adversity of the year.

Oh, and the Spartans did all of this without Kenny Goins who missed most of the game with an injury he suffered in the first few minutes.

A 24-point win against a potential NCAA Tournament team after a three-game skid? That’s what you call a rebound.