Flash back to halftime of MSU's game against Penn State on Saturday, and you'll see head coach Tom Izzo in the locker room, contemplating a list of problems longer than Idong Ibok's wingspan.
Paul Davis was planted firmly on the bench, cuckoo birds still circling his head after he lost a fight with Ibok's elbow at practice the day before.
Maurice Ager was planted firmly in a slump, firing up 3-pointers with the accuracy of a drunk skeet shooter.
And the No. 11 Spartans were planted firmly behind Penn State, trailing by five points in a game that, if lost, would torpedo any hope the team had of a Big Ten Championship.
With so many question marks around him, Izzo turned to the one Spartan who's been a consistent exclamation point this season: Shannon Brown.
"I told him at halftime, he's going to have to take over this game a little bit," Izzo said.
Brown took no time responding.
"I told him I got him," he said.
Flash forward now, about three minutes, and you'll see Brown's sneaker in Ben Luber's mouth. That's because Brown had just taken off from around the free-throw line, gripped the ball in his right hand, soared instantly as if aboard an invisible escalator, then threw down a monstrous dunk over the 6-foot guard, instantly re-igniting the sluggish Breslin Center crowd.
"It happened so quick, I really didn't know what happened," a smiling Brown said after the game. "I was looking at the rim the whole time. I was hoping I didn't even touch him."
Flash forward another minute, and you'll see Brown making a fallaway baseline jumper to give MSU its first lead since midway through the first half.
And flash forward to the end of the game, where you'll see Brown calmly drilling a pair of free throws — his 22nd and 23rd points of the half — to put Penn State at arm's length, then force a steal to remove any remaining doubt.
Now flash forward to the postgame press conference, where Izzo couldn't say enough good things about Brown's 29-point, one-turnover, team-lifting performance.
"Shannon Brown does have a knack to rise to the occasion," Izzo said. "I think that's what makes him the Energizer Bunny of that group. He kind of thrives on pressure, he kind of thrives on big moments."
Whenever MSU comes up in conversation, a mention of the Big Three — Ager, Brown and Davis — will inevitably follow. They're the only three teammates in the country all averaging at least 18 points a game. But as equally amazing as the trio has been, it seems as though Brown is sometimes the least-publicized one of the bunch.
After all, Ager caught national publicity when he scored 36 points in a triple-overtime loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 22 — still arguably the best college basketball game of the season. Davis grabs headlines because…well, because he's Davis. He's an amazingly talented, 6-foot-11 player at a time when there are few other big men that can do the things he does.
It seems like the only time Brown comes up in national conversations is either to say that most scouts think of him as a tweener, or that hey, did you know he went to high school with Dee Brown, but get this, they're not related?
It would be easy, then, for Shannon Brown to try to do too much, to try to force his way into the spotlight.
Instead, he's quietly been the Spartans' steadiest weapon. He's MSU's leading scorer in Big Ten play, averaging 19.2 points a game, and he's done it all within the flow of the game.
"He took control of a game under control and that speaks volumes for a player," Izzo said. "That means a guy's really growing up and becoming a special player."
It came at a perfect time for the Spartans.
"I remember back our championship years winning by two points and one point against teams that weren't as good," Izzo said. "I think sometimes it takes a lot more to beat teams when you're not at your best, and I'm going to chalk this one up as a win when we're not at our best."
The team might not have been at its best, but Brown certainly was. And if he keeps it up, the Spartans will likely be flashing forward past many teams the rest of the season.
Tom Keller is a State News men's basketball reporter. He can be reached at kellert1@msu.edu.
