Michigan State basketball: 5 takeaways from blowout win over Minnesota

Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from NCAA Tournament win over Minnesota

DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 23: Cassius Winston #5, Foster Loyer #3, Xavier Tillman #23 and Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate from the bench against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 23, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 17: Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates after beating the Michigan Wolverines 65-60 in the championship game of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

3. Nick Ward is starting to look like his old self

Tom Izzo addressed Nick Ward in the post-game press conference, stating that his junior big man hasn’t practiced much and it’s been tough trying to get him back into game shape after missing four weeks with the fractured hand, but he did allude the the fact that he looked better.

And the numbers did nothing but prove that.

Ward played 20 minutes off the bench, which is the most since coming back from injury, and put up nine points with seven rebounds. He wasn’t scoring like his old self, but he did put together some nice post moves and scores, but shot just 4-for-8 from down low. He needs to work on this as his hand gains strength and figure out a way to catch the ball more effectively.

Nevertheless, he jockeyed for position deep in the post like his old self and was able to catch it in the paint for a couple of easy buckets and make the defense work to slow him down.

His rebounding was arguably the most impressive as he finished with seven and was a big part of the Spartans’ dominance on the glass.

If he can get back to form, Michigan State will be that much more dangerous.

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