Michigan State basketball just won its first game after trailing at half

Believe it or not, but Michigan State basketball had not won a game when trailing at half — until the Spartans beat Michigan.

Michigan State basketball got a much needed win Tuesday night against Michigan, 81-62. There were a lot of obvious takeaways from this game including Tom Izzo’s 700th win, AJ Hoggard reaching 1,000 career points and a career high 23 points from Jaden Akins.

But MSU as a team accomplished something for the first time this season, and this something could really be telling for how this team is progressing this year.

First win this season when trailing at the half

Yes, you read that correctly, this is Michigan State’s first win of the season when trailing at the half. The Spartans were losing to Michigan at the break 35-33 before routing the Wolverines in the second half. The Spartans outscored Michigan 48-27 in the second half en route to their 19-point victory.

This season, Michigan State is now 1-7 in games when it’s trailing at the half. Compare that to their 12-1 record when leading at halftime and you can see how important it is for this group to have the halftime lead. However, Tuesday night’s game could be the turning point of the season.

Tuesday night showed the team’s growth this season

Now don’t get me wrong, a 1-7 record when trailing at halftime is still very bad. But the fact that the Spartans got that first win on Tuesday night could be very telling of this team’s progress. Finally, getting a win when losing at the half shows me the growth in this team’s maturity and concentration. Winning a game when losing at the half is a difficult thing to do, but we all know how good this Michigan State team can be. They should be able to come back and beat teams simply because they’ve got the talent to do so.

Not only do they have the talent to do so, but they also have the experience as well. All five Michigan State starters are upperclassmen, so they know what it takes to fight back and win games. That’s part of the reason why their 0-7 start in these games was so surprising to me. I just hope that Tuesday night is the turning point for this team, and something the Spartans can reflect on in moments when they’re trailing other teams in the future.

The Spartans’ next game is another home battle in a rematch against Maryland on Saturday. The Terps have revenge on their minds, so the Spartans will have to play extremely well to win this one.