Like an aging boxer short on money, the MSU basketball team refused to give up. And as the Big Ten season winds down to its final rounds, the Spartans are proving the beatings they took only made them stronger.
After MSU's first Big Ten game, a loss to Wisconsin, the team was two games under 500 - its worst start since the 1987-88 season - and had lost each of its marquee nonconference matchups. Many were counting them out of conference contention.
With the win against Northwestern on Saturday, MSU got one step closer to full-fledged redemption - the conference championship. The Spartans now control their destiny. If they win their last three games, a Big Ten Championship is guaranteed.
"They've done a hell of a job coming this far," head coach Tom Izzo said. "But I've said all along, I have no interest in winning games anymore. I have interest in winning championships, and if they have an interest in winning championships - not games - then I guess we'll still get judged on the last three games."
The Spartans' remaining three regular season games are at Michigan, at Penn State and against Wisconsin at home.
Izzo's statements speak volumes of MSU's turnaround. Six weeks ago, the Spartans were 5-7, including an 0-1 Big Ten record, and in desperate need of wins of any kind.
Since then, MSU has gone 10-2 and claimed first place in the Big Ten, a half-game ahead of Illinois (18-5 overall, 9-3 Big Ten).
A league title would help re-establish MSU as one of the Big Ten's dominant programs. MSU won four straight Big Ten championships from 1998 to 2001, but the last two seasons it has finished third and fifth, respectively.
Each of MSU's conference championship teams won with a distinctive style, Izzo said, such as toughness, speed or versatility. If MSU wins a championship this season, it will be in its own unique way, he said.
"This team could leave the greatest legacy and maybe the greatest lesson to other teams," he said. "That's never to give up, but really get up when you've been knocked down.
"No doubt, this team, they weren't knocked down. It was literally beaten the way that December month went."
MSU went 2-4 in December, its only wins coming against South Florida and Coppin State. The Spartans lost games to UCLA, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Duke. Izzo said the 72-50 blowout loss to Duke at Breslin Center was the low point of the season.
Despite MSU's nonconference losses, Izzo preached determination to the team and it eventually paid off, sophomore guard Maurice Ager said.
"Our futures are on the line," he said. "So we have to win in order for us to get where we need to go, but we still want to prove people wrong, that we are a good team."
The Spartans have rebounded from their disastrous start with 10 conference wins, but senior center Jason Andreas said the team must still improve in a few aspects.
"We still have a long way to go," he said. "We're still making some mistakes that we were making at the beginning of the season. By no means are we happy with where we're at."
The Spartans still commit too many turnovers for Izzo's liking and team consistency also is a concern.
"It just seems like we're still drifting," Izzo said.
The Spartans only have three games to correct their problems, and those games will decide MSU's championship fate.
"When it's over, I will have a great appreciation for what this team has done, because lesser teams would've quit, would've given up and this team didn't," Izzo said. "And for that, I do think they deserve credit now and later."
