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Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from convincing win over Michigan

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 05: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives the basket past Brandon Johns Jr. #23 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half at Breslin Center on January 05, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 05: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives the basket past Brandon Johns Jr. #23 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half at Breslin Center on January 05, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball hosted Michigan in a heated rivalry game and it was about as intense as we expected. What’d we learn?

The final score may not be totally indicative of how close this game felt, but Michigan State pulled away late to finish the Wolverines 87-69 in East Lansing.

Michigan was without Isaiah Livers which would have made a difference in the final, but the Spartans held a lead from start to finish. Xavier Tillman continues to play well as he had another double-double and Cassius Winston finished with a career-high 32 points to go along with nine assists.

This team seems to be clicking at the right time, winning seven games in a row and improving to 12-3 on the season and 4-0 in Big Ten play.

What’d we learn from Sunday’s rivalry battle?

3. Shooting is picking up

Through the first couple of months, Michigan State couldn’t seem to gain any confidence beyond the arc or even in the mid-range game but that has all seemed to change in recent games.

The 3-point shooting was solid once again on Sunday afternoon as Cassius Winston was a major reason for that, but even guys like Xavier Tillman, Marcus Bingham Jr. and Kyle Ahrens made shots from distance. Gabe Brown also hit a three, but the Spartans have stopped relying so much on the outside jumper and that’s making the shooting percentage improve, too.

If you’re looking for the major difference between the Wolverines and Spartans from Sunday’s game, it had to be the shooting.

Michigan was the better shooting team before Sunday’s game, but that wasn’t the case at the Breslin Center.

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