Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from pull-away win over WMU

Dec 6, 2020; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Rocket Watts (2) signals to his team as they get back on defense during the first half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 6, 2020; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Western Michigan Broncos center Titus Wright (22) reaches for the ball against Michigan State Spartans forward Aaron Henry (0) and forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (30) during the first half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

1. MSU got caught playing down to another opponent

For a second straight game, Michigan State expected to roll and its opponent had other ideas. Western Michigan was out-toughing the Spartans through most of the first half and into the second, but thankfully they were able to pull away and hold off the Broncos in the end.

Still, this was another one of those instances where the win didn’t feel as comfortable as it should have because the Spartans were overlooking the Broncos.

Michigan State focused up in the second half after a wealth of ugly turnovers and that led to a double-digit lead for the Spartans and that was the difference in this game, but letting the Broncos hang around for 30-plus minutes is just unacceptable.

We saw good games from Josh Langford, Rocket Watts, Aaron Henry, Joey Hauser and even Marcus Bingham Jr. but yet again, this just wasn’t a complete game for the green and white.

Moving forward, Michigan State has to stop playing down to opponents like it has against Detroit and Western Michigan.

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