Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from Senior Day win vs. Ohio State

Yet again, Michigan State basketball let a team hang around for a little too long and it nearly came back to bite the Spartans. They built a big lead against Ohio State before allowing the Buckeyes to hang around but eventually winning 84-78.

The offense remained hot while the defense, well, didn’t.

Michigan State now improves to 19-11 on the season with the Senior Day win over the Buckeyes and they sent Joey Hauser, Malik Hall, and Tyson Walker out strong.

What’d we learn?

3. MSU needs to learn to close

Leading the entire game, Michigan State was never really in danger of losing on Saturday afternoon, but when the Buckeyes pulled within three at 67-64, there was a sense of uneasiness in the fanbase. It felt like a “here we go again” moment as Ohio State wasn’t missing in the second half as it put up its best offensive performance in weeks.

But this was more on Michigan State’s defense not getting the stops as the offense was responding to almost every single Ohio State bucket.

The Spartans seem to fall asleep late in games with big leads and that’s something that needs to be addressed before they get burned by that inconsistency in the NCAA Tournament.

This team can beat anyone, but it also needs to learn to close.