Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from huge win over No. 2 Michigan

1. MSU likely punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament

Three weeks ago, Michigan State was demoralized. The Spartans looked dead in the water after losing ti Purdue on the road to drop to 10-9 overall, likely ending Tom Izzo’s impressive NCAA Tournament streak of over two decades. It was sad, but inevitable.

Until it wasn’t.

Michigan State went on the road to a place where it has struggled over the years to beat an Indiana team that looked to be in the NCAA Tournament field with a huge second half. That carried over into a monster win over a top-five Illinois team that had been on fire. The Spartans controlled that game against the Illini and really perked up fans’ ears with the win.

And then two days later, they went on to beat Ohio State in a thrilling second-half comeback. The Spartans gutted out another tough win to win their second over a top-five opponent in as many games.

A loss against Maryland was a little bit of a setback, but beating Indiana again a couple of days later gave Michigan State some breathing room. Losing to Michigan on Thursday night in blowout fashion also wasn’t ideal, but Izzo didn’t panic. He just regrouped the team, came up with the perfect gameplan and shocked the No. 2 team in the country.

That gives Michigan State three top-five wins in two weeks which will all but lock up a spot for the green and white in the Big Dance. Another win or two in the Big Ten Tournament could improve the Spartans’ seed, but they should be comfortably in now.

Cue the Izzo dancing GIF.