Although many expected MSU might find life after Dawson difficult, the Spartans made a seamless transition, winning three games in three days on the way to the Big Ten Tournament championship.

“It is what it is,” senior guard Brandon Wood said. “We knew what had happened, we knew people had to step up, and they did.”

Wood himself was one of the main contributors to making up for the loss of Dawson, replacing him in the starting lineup. He was particularly effective in Sunday’s championship game, when he hit four of five 3-pointers on the way to 21 points in a 68-64 win over the Buckeyes. The day before, it was fellow senior guard Austin Thornton, who nailed four 3-pointers — two with senior forward Draymond Green on the bench — to help beat Wisconsin and shot seven-for-10 from long range on the tournament.

As a team, MSU shot 47.9 percent from behind the long line throughout the weekend, and Thornton said that might be a sign of things to come in the NCAA Tournament without the slashing Dawson.

“Obviously, now it changes for us a little bit offensively,” Thornton said. “When you have me and Brandon Wood on the floor, you can’t really sag off him as much.”

Dawson missed all three of his 3-point attempts on the season and established himself as more of an inside scorer.

But while the absence of Dawson allows head coach Tom Izzo to play lineups with more shooters on the floor, it also took away one of the team’s most versatile weapons.

“You’re not going to replace what he brought to the table,” Thornton said. “He’s a great player, big, strong, very athletic, ran the wing very well and guarded a lot of guys on defense.”

Izzo said that’s where the rest of the team comes into play.

Although he agreed no one player can replace everything Dawson did, he said multiple guys showed they can help during the Big Ten Tournament.

When it comes to rebounding, Izzo said he expects more from sophomore and junior centers Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix.

Defensively, Wood and Thornton likely will defend the players Dawson would have been responsible for, but he added that sophomore guard Keith Appling “can guard anybody” and freshman guard Brandan Kearney has similar length to what Dawson brought.

And much like he has all season, Green will do a little bit of everything, Izzo said.

“Everybody’s playing their role and their part,” Izzo said. “It’s so hard for me to pick it out. It’s everybody not caring about anything but winning.”

At this point in the season, winning is the only thing that matters, Izzo said, as the next loss means it’s time to pack up and go home until next year.

And although not having Dawson entering the NCAA Tournament likely will make it more difficult on the Spartans as they look to go back to the Final Four for the third time in four years, Thornton said he is confident he and his teammates will continue to pick up the slack.

“This is just a special team,” Thornton said. “And I’d say we’ve done a pretty good job so far.”