Michigan State basketball: 3 quick thoughts on dominant win at Minnesota

Heading into Wednesday night’s Big Ten opener, Michigan State basketball knew it had to build on that growth it had in Maui in order to win on the road as a 4.5-point favorite. And it did just that with a 90-72 win.

Michigan State raced out to a 9-2 lead before surrendering a 12-3 run and that seemed to spark something in Tom Izzo’s team.

The Spartans responded with a 14-0 run to take a commanding 26-14 lead and they never looked back. The Spartans led by double figures for most of the game after that 14-12 deficit and ran away with their first Big Ten win of the year.

With the win, Michigan State improves to 7-2 on the year and it has a home battle with Nebraska on Saturday.

Here are my thoughts on the win.

1. We see how good this team is when it makes threes

When Michigan State can shoot threes at a decent clip, there aren’t many teams in college basketball that can beat the Spartans. They were 10-for-20 at one point before a late Kur Teng miss put them back below 50 percent on the night before Gehrig Normand got the team back up to that even mark with a three. But Michigan State showed that it’s nearly unstoppable when it makes shots from long range and it did so consistently all night.

Yes, this team shot a beautiful 11-of-22 from deep.

If this kind of shooting from deep continues, Michigan State is going to be a top-three team in the conference, at least.

2. The depth on this team is insane

I feel like I say this every game, but Michigan State is as deep as any team in the country. The Spartans do complete line changes which not many teams in college hoops can do and they don’t miss a beat. Twelve (!!) different Spartans scored on Wednesday night as Teng added late free throws and Normand scored five quick ones off the bench in the final minutes.

You know you’re deep when your bench has as many scorers in double figures as the starting lineup.

The bench scored 43 points against Minnesota and the starters finished with 47. Talk about balance.

3. We’re looking at a legit Big Ten title contender

I know it seems crazy considering all the changes Michigan State basketball experienced this offseason, losing AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Malik Hall, and Mady Sissoko, but Izzo has pieced together a legit Big Ten, and potentially national, title contender.

Yes, this was Minnesota and the Gophers are not good, but Vegas had Michigan State as just a 4.5-point favorite before the game only to hold a double-digit lead throughout and win by 18 on the road. Mind you, this was the Spartans’ first true road game of the year.

The defense played well for the most part, the offense played nearly perfect (scoring 90 in the Big Ten is not easy), rebounding was dominant, and the passing was arguably the best it’s been in years. This team has sky-high potential.