Michigan State Basketball: Positives and negatives from WMU win

Western Michigan put up a fight against Michigan State basketball on Sunday night, but the Spartans prevailed and improved to 5-0 on the young season.

Michigan State got all it could handle on Sunday night as it hosted Western Michigan and was taken deep into the second half in a close game.

Eventually, though, the Spartans flexed their muscle and pulled away with an 18-point win. The final score was not quite indicative of how close this one was and a few Western players gave Michigan State nightmares such as B.Artis White and Titus Wright. The two combined for 35 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.

Tom Izzo has to feel like he learned a lot about his team from the past two performances against Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan. The defense didn’t look overly motivated in either outing and the offense still managed to play well despite some sloppy turnovers.

Michigan State is now 5-0 on the season, jumping to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 on Monday afternoon. The Spartans trail just Gonzaga, Baylor and Iowa in the rankings and look like a team that could win the Big Ten yet again — it would be their fourth straight.

But there were still some negatives from the win over Western — and positives — that Izzo and Co. will want to work on before traveling to Virginia on Wednesday.