Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from huge win over No. 22 UConn

Michigan State basketball got off to a hot start in the first half, racing out to a 9-2 lead and then making it 32-18 at one point in the first half. The Spartans were unable to hold a lead, letting UConn get back into the game before halftime, and then the Huskies took a lead in the second half.

Julius Marble gave the Huskies the ol’ Dikembe Mutombo finger wag, however, scoring eight clutch points in a row to get the Spartans right back into the game.

Turnovers weren’t an issue in the first half, but that changed drastically in the second half as there was just nothing going right for the Spartans for a long stretch.

Turnovers, poor shot selection, and lack of execution in the second half nearly led to a meltdown and a Connecticut win, but Michigan State clamped down in the final three minutes to come back from down six to secure a huge four-point win.

What’d we learn from this huge win?

3. MSU has to avoid mid-game lulls

Michigan State looked great, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and then extending it to 32-18 in the first half before UConn scored six straight points to cut it to single-digits at halftime. The Spartans came out of the locker room and lacked energy and execution, letting UConn get back into it after Michigan State was up 11 points.

From the point it was 38-27 Michigan State and for most of the rest of the second half, the Spartans looked sloppy and the focus was lacking.

This happened against Loyola Chicago as well. The Spartans had a stretch in the first half against Loyola where they looked like they lacked confidence and were just turning the ball over constantly. There was a stretch at the end of the first half against UConn in which they couldn’t get anything to fall and they took bad shots. A 14-point lead melted down to eight.

And then in the second half, the Spartans disappeared. They can look like world-beaters one minute and then a middle school JV team the next. That has to stop.