Sometimes, a win isn't as important as how you get it.
Barring a meltdown, the Spartans were not going to lose to Minnesota on Wednesday at Breslin Center. The Golden Gophers, owners of the Big Ten's worst record, had won just five games since head coach Dan Monson resigned on Nov. 30 and hadn't won on the road all season. But winning Wednesday's game with a subpar performance likely would have been as mentally damaging as a loss for the Spartans, who needed some momentum heading into Saturday's collision with No. 5 Ohio State.
A 70-46 victory, which featured the Spartans' crispest offensive performance in weeks and extended their winning streak to four games, should at least give the team something to build off for future contests.
"I'd say we've had five pretty good halves where I think we're at least executing better," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "We are improving. I say it's a month late — you'd like to have done this over Christmas — but we have made some progress."
The most promising sign for the Spartans: The timing of their half-court offense finally appears to be coming together, with freshman forward Raymar Morgan and sophomore guard Maurice Joseph almost fully recovered from injuries. The Spartans had a season-high 25 assists on their 29 baskets Wednesday and had a massive 32-4 edge in points in the paint.
"Coach Izzo has been putting all this time into our offense — we've been kind of dissecting our plays and getting the timing down and getting the options set up, and I think that's paid dividends for us," Joseph said. "Our sets are looking better, our timing's better, our screens, our setups are all better."
Sophomore guard Travis Walton was the key cog in the efficient machine, notching a career-high 11 assists to go with seven points. A missed 3-pointer late in the game was all that separated him from his first career double-double.
"We're kind of gelling together and getting back to the feel we had the first seven, eight games," Walton said.
Morgan led all scorers with 14 points, and Joseph had nine on a trio of 3-pointers.
"Getting 23 points out of Raymar and MoJo where we were getting none…will really make a difference," Izzo said.
The Spartans closed the first half with a 16-3 run and doubled up the Gophers at the break, 40-20. Minnesota (7-13 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) shot just 31.1 percent (14-for-45) for the game and was held under 53 points for the fifth straight contest.
MSU, which entered as the fourth-best rebounding team in the country at plus-9.4 per game, hammered the Gophers on the glass, 38-24. Sophomore forward Marquise Gray led the way with nine boards.
Of course, MSU (17-4, 4-2) also did just enough things wrong to let Izzo remind everyone his team still will have to play better to have a chance in Columbus. But, heading into a game they aren't supposed to win, maybe it's best that the Spartans have a few imperfections to keep them focused.
"I told my guys, 'This is why you come to a school like this,'" Izzo said. "Seventeen-4 at this point, with what we've gone through, is great. But that's now put on the back shelf. In my mind, I'm looking at this as we're 0-0, and let's see what we can do."
Tom Keller can be reached at kellert1@msu.edu.
