Michigan State Basketball: Favorite moment from 2019-20 season

With the 2019-20 Michigan State basketball season in the books, let’s take a look at some favorite moments and pick the best one.

From Cassius Winston going off against Michigan to him kissing the Spartan logo on senior day to a multitude of monstrous dunks, big road wins and comeback victories, Michigan State had one heck of a season that will be remembered for a long time.

Unfortunately, it won’t be remembered for capping everything off with a Final Four run with the NCAA Tournament cancelled, but the Spartans still went out as champions.

Now would be around the time I’d be doing a season recap with player grades, but since it’s been over for three weeks now, those have already been done and we’re already moving forward with 2020-21 season outlooks.

This doesn’t mean we can’t look back at an incredible season that was and talk about some of the most memorable moments.

But what moment sticks out as the best from the 2019-20 season?

For me, that’s a tough one to answer because I could name about 10 off the top of my head. However, the one that sticks out the most is Xavier Tillman’s put-back dunk to beat Illinois on the road with about six seconds left.

This was a win Michigan State desperately needed as they had lost 5-of-8 games and fell out of the rankings for the first time on the season. They looked like a defeated team but they woke up against Illinois, taking a 20-point lead, but then watched it dwindle in the second half.

Illinois took a one-point lead with under 20 seconds left, but a drive and a shot off the backboard by Winston opened the door for a huge Tillman put-back which arguably saved the season and any hope the Spartans had for a Big Ten title.

I could sit here and talk about all the memorable Cassius moments like his aforementioned Michigan performance, going off on senior day and kissing midcourt just seconds after draining a huge step-back three that nearly blew the lid off Breslin Center, his record-breaking assist versus Wisconsin or even his buzzer-beater from beyond half court against Maryland. But this Tillman dunk had the biggest impact of the bunch.

Michigan State needed a win in the worst way, saw a 20-point lead disappear and when all looked loss after a Winston miss, Tillman saved the day and the season.

If that dunk doesn’t happen, Michigan State isn’t talking about a Big Ten title right now and we’re probably looking back at a lost season.

What’s your favorite moment from the 2019-20 season? Is it Tillman’s dunk, something Cassius did or even complete games, like a comeback win over Penn State?