Three things made MSU head coach Tom Izzo smile after Saturday's game at Breslin Center.
The first: Regaining dominance over archrival Michigan, courtesy of a 90-71 win.
The second: The re-emerging possibility of winning the Big Ten. Minnesota did its part with a win over Iowa, putting the No. 16 Spartans just one game back in the loss column of the Hawkeyes with four games to play.
The third, and most important: Senior guard Maurice Ager looked like his old self, scoring 19 points in the blowout win.
"I guess I'm happiest for Maurice," Izzo said. "It's been a little bit of a struggle.
"I think it was important that he had a good game and he had a very good game."
Not to be outdone by his running mate, junior guard Shannon Brown poured in a game-high 26 points, including three highlight-reel plays.
U-M started hot, led by the play of guard Daniel Horton, who sank two early 3-pointers as the Wolverines jumped out to a 13-5 lead, despite losing center Chris Hunter within the first few minutes to a leg injury.
The Spartans fired back to take a 22-18 lead as sophomore guard Drew Neitzel put up one of his career-high 12 assists to Brown, who threw down a reverse alley-oop. The play was freed up by a screen from redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray, who tied up both U-M's Jerret Smith and Brent Petway, allowing Brown to roll unabated to the basket.
MSU took an 11-point lead into the break, 39-28, despite landing in foul trouble for most of the half.
It didn't take long for the Spartans to grab firm control of the game in the second half, as the first six minutes turned into the Maurice Ager Show.
Ager opened up the half with a 3-pointer, and then a few minutes later went on to score eight straight Spartans points. The first two came on a breakaway dunk off a loose-ball scramble and the next six were from two 3-pointers, the second on a feed from Brown.
Despite his struggles, Ager said he never lost confidence in himself.
"I understood that there's plenty of time," he said. "I've struggled as a player and it's about playing basketball. You're going to struggle sometimes, but you just have to stay strong, keep moving."
If MSU keeps getting consistent production out of its two wing players, it might be a serious threat to win the league title with three of its last four games at home, with three coming against other contenders.
"I'm not sure you can stop them," U-M head coach Tommy Amaker said.
"I thought they played brilliantly."
After the Ager run, Gray and Petway got tied up, with Petway shoving Gray in the head and shoulders, drawing a double-technical.
Petway, the source of much ire from Spartans fans after his elbow of Ager in the Jan. 25 game, missed two dunks and had a blocked shot bounce off his head and out of bounds, delighting the sold-out crowd of 14,759, some of whom held anti-Petway signs.
The double-technicals marked the Spartans' fourth such incident in the last five games, something that Izzo is getting tired of.
"I have to see the double-technical, but I have to tell you, that's getting old," Izzo said.
"If my guy is doing something, throw him out. Throw him out."
MSU's lead ballooned out to 23 with less than six minutes to play on a circus reverse lay-in by Brown. And the Spartans put the game on cruise control from there, avenging their loss from earlier in the season and ending their two-game losing streak in the process.
Senior center Paul Davis chipped in a quiet double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, helping the Spartans to a 35-25 rebounding edge.
MSU's schedule doesn't get any easier, with a tilt against Ohio State on tap. Tip-off is a 8 p.m. Wednesday at Breslin. The Spartans then travel to Bloomington, Ind. to play the Hoosiers at noon on Sunday.
