Michigan State basketball finally got their first Big Ten road win of the season on Sunday with a 61-59 road win over Maryland.
They definitely had to work for it though, as you’d expect, as only two other teams have managed to beat Maryland in College Park in the past two season.
After going into the half up 12, the Terrapins stormed back and outscored the Spartans by 10 in the second half and put the pressure on MSU, but some late game heroics by a few of the MSU guards sealed this win for MSU.
Below, we put together a list of five important keys to this one and what led to this important road win.
Tre Holloman
This might have been the best Tre Holloman game of the season so far. It was definitely the best Tre Holloman road game of the year so far.
Holloman scored 12 points, going 3-for-4 from three, and had a very important stop in the closing seconds to seal the win. His defense has been electric this year and he’s finally shooting the ball with confidence and consistency.
Turnovers
Something that plagued the Spartans early in the year when they were struggling was in the turnover department. That has swung the other way in recent games, as the Spartans are holding onto the ball and turning it over with great frequency.
On Sunday, the Spartan won the turnover battle 17-7, a huge part of this victory.
Tyson Walker
Who else? If Michigan State wins a basketball game, chances are Tyson Walker was involved in someway. While Tyson didn’t hit his usual 20 points per game average, he hit an extremely cluth three in the closing minute to help put the dagger in Maryland.
Carson Cooper's interior defense
In a night where Mady Sissoko struggled, Carson Cooper came in and was able to play spectacular defense on the interior. MSU managed to win this game despite only scoring 17 points in the second half, and his defense was a major part of that.
Cooper didn’t score a basket, but he led the Spartans in plus-minus on Sunday going plus-sixteen. He had two blocks and a steal in some impressive minutes.
Transition offense
Everyone knows that Tom Izzo wants to get his team running in transition. He has made a Hall of Fame career out of defense, rebounding, and transition offense. You saw that in spades on Sunday. Whether it was coming off turnovers, or even more frustrating for Maryland, coming immediately off a made Terrapins basket, the Spartans were off and running all game.
They beat Maryland in transition offense 14 to 3.
