Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from buzzer-beating win over Minnesota

1. Michigan State’s vets saved the day

Just the way Tom Izzo likes it: Michigan State’s veteran players stepped up to save the day.

Michigan State was in serious trouble in the second half with Minnesota surging and essentially scoring at will, but a couple of veteran players stepped up.

Malik Hall had been quiet all game long and had no points until midway through the second half. He came in and instantly had an impact. He scored on a couple of impressive fadeaway jumpers along with a big 3-pointer. He finished with seven big points which sparked the offense when it needed someone to inject some life.

The other veteran who stepped up was Joey Hauser who didn’t do a ton on the stat sheet, but his game-winning buzzer-beater was impressive and he had another big bucket with the shot clock winding down in the second half. He was in the right place at the right time on multiple occasions.

Gabe Brown didn’t have his best game, shooting just 2-for-7 from the floor, but he got to the line and made all eight of his free throws.

The veterans were clutch on Wednesday and it was good to see that on a day when not much went right.