Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from tight win over Minnesota

2. We need to see more of this Malik Hall

What we saw from Malik Hall against the Gophers was impressive. Three games removed from his zero-everything performance against Northwestern, the fifth-year senior had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists before fouling out in the final minute. It was arguably his best game of the year.

And this marks the fifth time in the past six games that he looked like the key player on the team. That one poor performance came in the ugliest loss in that stretch, a 14-point defeat at Northwestern.

If Michigan State can get this version of Hall, there won't be many teams that will beat the Spartans for the remainder of the season. The Spartans are 7-3 this season when Hall scores at least 10 points and 4-2 when he scores at least 15. When he has at least 15 points and five-plus rebounds in the same game, the Spartans are 4-1.

It's safe to say that this team feeds off of him when he's having good games.