Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from dominant win over Brown

1. The upcoming 11-day break is much-needed

Michigan State will be getting 11 days off from now until the next game. The Spartans will face Oakland in East Lansing on Dec. 21 and that will be one of three games in a three-week span to end the month of December which is much-needed after the West Coast trip and immediate road trip to Notre Dame followed by a home game against Northwestern.

Tom Izzo’s team played seven games in 19 days after the Northern Arizona opener and it included opponents like Gonzaga, Kentucky, Villanova, Alabama, and Oregon. They escaped that gauntlet with a 4-3 record, but they stumbled against Northwestern in the Big Ten opener.

It was clear that this roster with nine healthy scholarship players was tired.

They bounced back with a win at Penn State three days later and then took down Brown on Saturday night, but it’s still clear that this team could use a break. It’s been tested as much as any of Izzo’s teams in years past and it doesn’t quite have the depth to face another long stretch without Malik Hall.

Michigan State definitely needs this time off to rest up, get healthy, actually practice, and fix some correctable issues. Get those legs back.