Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from scary BTT win over Maryland

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Mar 10, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (30) shoots the ball while Maryland Terrapins forward Qudus Wahab (33) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Michigan State can’t figure out how to put teams away

For the third time this season, Michigan State built a 15-plus-point second-half lead over Maryland and struggled to put the Terps away.

This was the second time in a week that the Spartans led Maryland by 20 points in the second half and saw the lead cut to three points or fewer. That’s just unacceptable, especially considering how mediocre this Maryland team is.

I will give Maryland credit, it made some big shots late and the full-court press had Michigan State scrambling but the Spartans can’t continue to melt down late.

A clearly exasperated Tom Izzo was at a loss for words in his post-game interview with Andy Katz and it was clear that he was disappointed with his team. This is on him for not having the right guys inbounding the ball and running the correct plays to avoid these ungodly turnovers late. The Spartans couldn’t even get it past half court.

This team could be really solid if it put together 40 full minutes, but it hasn’t done that consistently all year.

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