Michigan State basketball: 3 likes and dislikes from Marquette win

After a hard-fought 40 minutes, a few more gray hairs, and only 2-3 years taken off our lives, it was Michigan State basketball that was left dancing on the court Sunday evening, taking down the Marquette Golden Eagles, 69-60 (this game was way closer than the score indicates).

Here are three things I liked about the win, along with three dislikes.

Like: Interior defense

Like the USC game, I knew our bigs would need to show up and, man alive, did they make their presence shown.

Mady Sissoko bringing down his highest rebounding total in darn near two months along with eight points (making both his free throws) is all well and fine, but he left his mark on the game with his two steals and two huge blocks in the final two minutes of the game.

Not only did they stop Marquette from scoring, and not only did it get the crowd going, but it directly lead to a Tyson Walker jumper on one possession and then a pair of Walker free throws. An eight-point swing if Sissoko doesn’t get those blocks and MSU potentially not being able to in-bound the ball instead of an easy transition to the half court.

Kansas State is very similar in size to Marquette so look for Sissoko to bring the energy in the Sweet 16 (it feels so good to say that).