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Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways for comfortable win over Nebraska

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - MARCH 05: Head coach Tim Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts on the bench while playing the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Breslin Center on March 05, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 91-76. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - MARCH 05: Head coach Tim Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts on the bench while playing the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Breslin Center on March 05, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 91-76. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball needed a win on Tuesday to stay in the hunt for a Big Ten title and it got just that with a runaway victory over Nebraska.

Little did Michigan State realize, Tuesday night’s game against Nebraska would mean more than originally anticipated. The Spartans felt deflated after a Saturday afternoon loss in Bloomington to Indiana, in terms of Big Ten title hopes, but Purdue lost at Minnesota to pull the Spartans into a three-way tie for first with one game remaining.

The final game of the season against Michigan will be for at least a tie of the regular season title and it will mean more than any Big Ten game this year.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Michigan State took down Nebraska in dominating fashion and held a lead from the 14-minute mark in the first half until the final buzzer. It was an impressive effort, especially without Nick Ward and now Kyle Ahrens and with Matt McQuaid nursing an ankle injury. He didn’t show any signs of being slowed, at least offensively, as he finished with 22 points.

Michigan State shot lights out en route to a 15-point win, covering the spread.

The Spartans got the job done, but what did we learn?

5. Gabe Brown did some major growing up

With Kyle Ahrens out, Tom Izzo had to turn to one of his lesser-used freshman wings and Gabe Brown answered the call. No, he didn’t quite have the shooting night he would have hoped for, but the freshman played solid defense and even earned some high-fives from his head coach after a couple of stops.

Brown was tasked with matching up with James Palmer Jr. and didn’t give up many easy drives to the basket. There’s no doubt he still has some work to do, but Brown grew up a bit on Tuesday night and that showed that he could be ready for more minutes as the regular season closes.

Izzo saw that he can depend on Brown to give it his all defensively and not be afraid to look for his shot on the other end, which was a huge step in the right direction.

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