The past five games have been quite the change of pace for Michigan State basketball after that two-game losing streak against UCLA and USC on the West Coast swing.
The Spartans looked defeated after getting swept on that road trip out west, but they have since settled back in and look even better than they did before the West Coast trip. In fact, they're 4-1 in their last five games with a lone loss coming against Indiana in the most head-scratching way possible. There's no way Michigan State should've lost that game.
But here we are, sitting at 22-5 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten, tied with Michigan atop the standings after beating the Wolverines on Friday.
Something has seemingly clicked with this team over the past five games and it starts with the guard play. Jase Richardson, Tre Holloman, and Jaden Akins have been playing some really good basketball lately and they're a big reason why Michigan State was able to bounce back from that Indiana loss and beat Illinois and Michigan on the road and Purdue at home.
Let's just look at their numbers over the past five games:
Jaden Akins: 10.6 points (playing great defense, offense coming along slowly)
Tre Holloman: 12.2 points, 5.6 assists, 2 games with 3-plus 3-pointers
Jase Richardson: 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 40% from 3 (5 steals in last 2 games)
They're doing all of this with Jeremy Fears Jr. hitting a bit of a slump, but it hasn't mattered as they've picked him up. Holloman is making up for the assist numbers and all three are providing a massive offensive boost.
So if you're wondering why it feels like Michigan State has turned a corner, it's because three guards are averaging over 10 points per game and two (including Fears) are averaging over 4.0 assists per game.
Next thing to improve: shooting numbers.