Michigan State basketball showed growth despite loss to Indiana

Believe it or not, but Michigan State basketball showed plenty of growth despite a tough loss at the hands of Indiana on Thursday night.

It’s OK to be mad. It’s OK to be disappointed. Heck, it’s OK to even be embarrassed by Michigan State’s loss on Thursday night at Indiana because, well, you should be.

But despite all of those negative feelings, there should still be one positive and that’s the fact that Michigan State showed some growth in their loss which was the exact opposite from the Purdue game just a couple weeks earlier.

At Purdue, the Spartans got down early and looked to just mail it in. The effort seemed to stop and Michigan State was content with just finishing the game shortly after halftime. Purdue was making their shots and the Spartans looked demoralized and flat-out defeated. They didn’t put together a run like they did last season in West Lafayette and that was disappointing to see.

There were no signs of life as the team looked shellshocked at Mackey Arena.

At an even more historic venue on Thursday night, the Spartans found themselves in a similar situation, down 15 points in the first half and on the verge of getting absolutely run out of the gym. Yet another average Big Ten squad was taking it to Michigan State and the crowd was deafening. This could have been another chance for the young Spartans to just close up shop and move on to Sunday’s game at Minnesota, but they didn’t do that.

In fact, after falling behind 20-8, Tom Izzo looked rather calm in a timeout and basically told his team that they weren’t out of it despite playing as poorly as they could have to that point. That calm presence led to a nice comeback as Michigan State came within seven at the half.

And then out of the locker room, the Spartans kept that momentum going, even taking a 51-48 lead with under 10 minutes left which is something impressive for a young team led by two veterans.

Cassius Winston didn’t play particularly great, but he did just enough to help keep this team afloat. Aaron Henry hit some clutch shots, as did Gabe Brown and Rocket Watts, and the Spartans climbed back into the game despite the crowd being rather hostile.

The young guys weren’t fazed. They rose to the occasion, came all the way back, took a lead and probably should have won but empty possessions down the stretch were the difference.

After getting off to a slow start, the Spartans settled down and it looked like the lights weren’t too bright for them. The young guys stepped up and got this team back into it.

It’s crazy how much different this team looked with double-digit deficits facing them at Purdue and at Indiana. The comeback was a sign of growth and maturity and just a belief that no matter the situation, the game is never out of reach, even on the road. This team grew on Thursday.