Michigan State Basketball: A confident Rocket Watts is key to March run

Rocket Watts showed the most confidence he’s had all season on Sunday night and he’s key to Michigan State basketball’s March run.

Sunday night was special for Rocket Watts. Not only was his mother in attendance which had a profound emotional effect on the sophomore, but he also had his best game of the season when it mattered most.

For just the third time this season and first time in Big Ten play, Watts scored 20-plus points. Before Sunday’s upset over Michigan, the last time Rocket scored 20 was all the way back on Dec. 4 when the Spartans held off an upset bid from Detroit Mercy. He finished with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes against the Titans.

This was his second straight 20-point performance, following up his 20-point outing in a huge win at No. 6 Duke in which he made 7-of-16 field goals in 25 minutes. The previous game against Notre Dame was his first double-digit scoring performance of the year as he dropped 13 on 5-for-11 shooting after a quiet opener against Eastern Michigan.

A theme was developing: when Rocket scores at a high clip and shoots a high percentage, Michigan State wins.

After scoring 23 against Detroit, Rocket had just three double-digit scoring games. That was until Sunday night against the No. 2 team in the country. He also shot just 50 percent from the floor just once in that span — until Sunday.

When Rocket scored at least 10 in that stretch, Michigan State was 3-0 with wins over Western Michigan, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 5 Illinois. The Spartans looked like a more complete team when he was playing well because Aaron Henry didn’t have to put the team on his back. When Rocket becomes a scoring threat, Michigan State has three legit go-to guys in Henry, Joshua Langford and Watts — and the occasional Joey Hauser or Gabe Brown.

That’s a scary thought for opponents.

Problem is, he hasn’t shown that scoring touch consistently this season. It’s been a rare occurrence, but Sunday’s game against Michigan may have unlocked the floodgates of confidence that we’ve been waiting to see from Watts.

In fact, he attempted his most shots of the season (16) and that was after he missed a contested layup in his first try. His eight field goals made was also a season-high and his 21 points were his second-most on the year. He looked comfortable at the point guard position as well, dishing four assists which was his highest total since the Illinois win and third-most in Big Ten play.

When Rocket plays like he did on Sunday, Michigan State is really hard to beat.

Actually, when he plays like that, the Spartans are unbeatable — at least according to the numbers. Michigan State is 7-0 when he scores at least 10 points and 4-0 against ranked teams.

If Michigan State wants to make a deep run this March, Rocket is the key.

Sunday may have just kickstarted a hot stretch that could carry the Spartans to a shocking run in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s to hoping.