Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Maryland

Michigan State basketball held on for a big road win against Maryland to improve to 12-7 on the season and 4-4 in Big Ten play.

What a win for Michigan State basketball. The Spartans played an amazing first half and took a 44-32 lead into the halftime break. The second half was one to forget, but the Spartans closed the game strong and beat Maryland 61-59.

FOUND A WAY 😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/WH0fUwRVHs

— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 21, 2024

Here are my takeaways from the Spartans’ big win on Sunday.

1. Tre Holloman impresses yet again

Tre Holloman shined once again in this game. He played arguably his best half as a Spartan in the first half, going a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. He finished the day with 12 points, one rebound, and one assist and took a big step in his development once again.

Tre also had the game-sealing defensive play to close the door. After a Tyson Walker miss, Maryland had the ball down two with a few seconds left. Holloman picked up the ball handler and poked the ball free to end the game. So not only is he shining offensively, be he also is locking up on defense as well.

Having Holloman on the bench is such a luxury for this Michigan State basketball team. I’d argue he’d be a starter on a lot of teams, so we are very lucky to have him as a reserve. The sky is the limit for this team if we can keep getting this production out of him, and I can’t wait to see him blossom next year when he likely is a starter.

2. The defense won this game again

I think we all can agree that the second half was hideous. Michigan State couldn’t get anything going offensively, only scoring 17 points in the half. But that was thankfully enough, thanks in large part to the defense.

The Spartans closed out Minnesota on Thursday with their stifling defense. Michigan State once again did that same thing again on Sunday. With 8:26 left in the game, Maryland hit a 3-pointer to take a three-point lead. From that point on, Maryland only scored six more points the rest of the game.

Add in a few timely buckets and MSU closed this game out. I hope we don’t have to rely on great defense to win every game, especially when MSU was up by 15 points at one point. But knowing MSU can ramp their defense up at any point is a huge positive going forward.

3. A win’s still a win, even if it’s ugly

At the end of the day, all that matters is winning the game. The Minnesota game was ugly, but MSU still won. The second half today against Maryland was hideous, but Michigan State still won. That’s the name of the game, especially on the road.

This win brings Michigan State to .500 in Big Ten play and gives them their first road win of the season. Now with a massive date with Wisconsin on Friday, the sky is once again the limit with this team.

The Spartans undoubtedly will have to play a lot better to beat Wisconsin, but we can worry about that another time. A road win is massive no matter how you get it, and MSU did just enough to win on Sunday.