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

1. This may be the deepest team Izzo’s ever had

Name the last time Michigan State played 12 guys in the regular rotation and each had a decent role in the win. You probably can’t. Either it’s been too long or Michigan State just has the deepest team in the Tom Izzo era.

Izzo has stated that he wants to eventually trim the rotation, but how can you when you have 12 guys who are critical to the outcome of a game?

Three starters scored in double figures with Aaron Henry leading the way with 15, Joshua Langford scoring 13 and Joey Hauser piecing together a quiet double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Rocket Watts nearly became the fourth, scoring nine, but he did have six assists.

Thomas Kithier was held scoreless, but he didn’t play a ton of minutes.

And then you look at the bench and the depth has never been more obvious than it was on Sunday afternoon in East Lansing. Four players came off the bench and scored in double figures. Gabe Brown led the way with 20 and AJ Hoggard, Malik Hall and Foster Loyer each scored 10. Julius Mable had five and Marcus Bingham Jr. had a quiet game with three and Mady Sissoko had two, but all three of those bigs have gone off at some point this season.

This team still has plenty of work to do on defense and with ball security, but this kind of depth can go a long way in the Big Ten and national title races.