Michigan State basketball silences critics with convincing win over Michigan

Michigan State basketball faced its toughest matchup of the season in Ann Arbor as the Wolverines and Spartans went down to the wire.

It had the feel of one of those intense battles that would go down to the wire, and it was just that for Michigan and Michigan State basketball on Sunday afternoon.

The Wolverines and Spartans fought back and forth all game long and it set up a final few minutes of tense basketball. Michigan State was finally able to overcome that hurdle that was the Wolverines, snapping their three-game losing streak in the rivalry with a 77-70 win.

It wasn’t looking like the game was headed toward the Spartans’ direction in the second half when Michigan State was down 51-45 and the offense was sputtering, but Cassius Winston and Kenny Goins stepped up to put the Wolverines away.

Things got dicy in the final minute as the Spartans took a 10-point lead, but Michigan State couldn’t break the press and the Wolverines trimmed the lead to five.

Winston played one his best games of the season, shaking that mental roadblock that was Zavier Simpson. He finished with 27 points with eight assists and three turnovers in the big win over the Wolverines.

Tom Izzo had to be proud of his team’s grittiest performance of the season, finishing out strong after capturing a lead midway through the second half and making free throws while avoiding a late Michigan surge.

Where does this rank in terms of Izzo’s greatest wins? Regular season-wise, this has to be up there in the top 10 as no one picked the Spartans to win and they did it down two starters who average 15-plus points on the road.

Give it up to this year’s team, it just continues to get the job done when everyone counts them out.