Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from blowout of Minnesota

1. This could very well spark MSU’s turnaround

You can tell a lot about a team by how it handles adversity. For the first time this season, the Spartans were facing plenty of it, losing three games in a row and having just about everyone doubt them — outside of the selection committee which listed them as a 2-seed in the first top-16 projections.

Michigan State kept a level head and spoke candidly with the media following Thursday’s practice, stating that they needed to put forth more of an effort and the lackadaisical style of play over the past three games was unacceptable — the Purdue game was expected, Indiana was a shock and Illinois was just the cherry on top.

Bouncing back would have been nice against Minnesota, but doing it in the way Michigan State did — winning by 24 — was huge.

Sometimes teams feed off one single win and use that as momentum to carry them throughout the rest of the season and the Spartans could be facing a similar situation.

Knowing that they are still the same team that started the season 18-2 was a confidence-boost and some guys just needed to see that next win come in order to get back on track.

This 79-55 blowout of Minnesota may just put the Spartans right back on track to contend for the Big Ten title and earn a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament.