Michigan State Basketball: Player grades for comfortable win over Michigan

The grades for Michigan State basketball’s big win over Michigan were favorable but was it the best report card of the season?

Beating Michigan just has a different feel to it. Both on the football field as well as the court, whenever the Spartans can down the Wolverines, it’s a good feeling.

Michigan State did just that on Sunday afternoon, beating the Wolverines 87-69 in East Lansing to improve to 12-3 on the season and 4-0 in Big Ten play. It was a grind-it-out win despite the final score and Michigan State had to fight for the entire 40 minutes just to keep the Wolverines from climbing right back into it — they almost did a couple of times.

Even with the 18-point win, Michigan State doesn’t seem like a team that’s ready to settle down and be content with where it is, but rather one that’s just hitting its stride.

The Spartans went from a 5-3 team after losing to Duke at home to one that’s playing arguably the best basketball in the country, riding a seven-game winning streak.

Things won’t get much easier this week, though, as they host Minnesota and then travel to West Lafayette to face Purdue — that’s never an easy place to play and the Spartans always seem to struggle at Mackey Arena.

Let’s not look too far ahead, though, and take a peek at Sunday’s report card.