A 7-0 start to Big Ten play has been a nice change of pace for Michigan State basketball fans after the past four years. Since Cassius Winston graduated, it felt like there was a dark cloud over the program and it has seemingly been lifted this year.
While the perfect start is nice, there's still a lot of work to do if the Spartans want to make any noise come March and also hang on to that first place standing in the Big Ten.
Michigan State has had a favorable schedule to this point in the conference season, but the Spartans are about to hit a rough stretch of matchups. That stretch begins on Saturday afternoon in New York City against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden.
Let's get bold ahead of this big-time showdown.
1. Coen Carr hits another 3
Coen Carr has done something this year that not many expected to happen this early in his career: he has developed a strong all-around game.
As a freshman, he was just an athletic freak who provided the occasional highlight but couldn't be in games when it came down to crunch time. Now, he's already a great defender, a plus rebounder, and a terrific rim-runner. Oh, and he's been more focused on developing his offensive game as to not just be known as simply a dunker.
During his freshman season, Carr attempted zero 3-pointers and it was obvious that he just wasn't comfortable out there. Now, as a sophomore, he has made three of his six career attempts and they've all come within the last month.
Carr will hit a fourth three on Saturday and his confidence will skyrocket.