Talk about an enjoyable win. Michigan State just went into Mackey, bounced back from an early 9-0 run to pull within a possession at halftime, and it dominated in the second half to win 76-74.
Michigan State looked incredibly comfortable down the stretch and the half-court offense was actually effective. This felt like a “this is how good we can be” game for the Spartans.
What’d we learn from the Spartans’ first win at Mackey since 2014?
1. This team is tougher than we thought
The last three weeks have really given some of us recency bias when talking about Michigan State’s ceiling. It looked like the cracks were starting to show a bit and after a 19-2 start to the season, the Spartans are just 3-3 over their past six games. It felt like they lost their identity for a bit.
That toughness and grit returned against Purdue.
Every loose ball was fought for, rebounding was a war, and the execution on both ends was darn near perfect for 40 minutes. This team went into a sold-out Mackey Arena and beat the No. 8 team in the country with one of the most impressive second halves on the road in a while.
2. Carson Cooper has improved so much
A year ago, if the ball was dumped in to Carson Cooper, I would have screamed at the TV for him to get it back out and rotate. Now, the offense runs through him at the top of the key on occasion. He’s become so good at passing, decision-making, and his overall feel for the game is so much better this season. Heck, he wasn’t nearly this good in November.
Cooper looked comfortable with the baby-hook, he had a crazy spin move to throw down over a 7-foot-4 center in the first half, and he defended really well.
This is not the same Cooper from even a couple of months ago.
3. The ‘Core 4’ showed up
I mentioned before the game that the “Core 4” of Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, Fears, and Coen Carr all needed to show up at the same time if Michigan State was going to have any shot.
Guess what? They all showed up.
Although Kohler was a little off on the offensive end, he settled in on defense after a rough start against Oscar Cluff and hit a couple of massive shots including a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock in the first half and a huge bucket in the final minutes to extend Michigan State’s lead.
Carr had 11 points and five rebounds and some massive dunks, Fears had 12 points and six assists with just one turnover and played some really good defense, and Cooper had 15 points and six boards. These guys all showed up and it paid off with a huge road win.