Michigan State Basketball: 3 thoughts from sluggish win over Northwestern

Big Ten play resumed in the new year against Northwestern. Michigan State basketball struggled early and often but still found a way to win.

Michigan State kicked off the 2022 calendar year with a win against the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston. It was not the prettiest of games but they were still able to show some grit in the end and come away with a win to give them a 3-0 start to Big Ten play.

Led by Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham, the Spartans came from behind to win this one. The Wildcats took an early lead and kept that play for all of the first half. There were not many good takeaways in this game but they found a way to win and that is always nice to see.

Finishing the game strong is something they could not do earlier this year in the Kansas nor Baylor games; they have now shown they do know how to finish games. What did we notice in this one?

3. Rebounding was concerning

The Spartans had nine offensive rebounds which is a pretty solid day. However, they let the Wildcats get 15 offensive rebounds. Most of those came in the first half but they also had some crucial offensive boards in the second half to keep them in the game.

This is not the first time that offensive rebounds have been a struggle for Michigan State. Against Baylor, they struggled to keep the Bears off the offensive glass as well. They will need to get back into the gym and work on out-hustling opponents because there are a ton of great big men in the league.

If the Spartans cannot box out and they let the opposing big men get the offensive rebounds, this could be a long conference season for the Spartans.

The Spartans have to get back to fundamentals and win the rebounding game, especially the offensive rebounds if they want a chance to win the Big Ten this year.