Flash-forward to now, though, and in the opening month of Big Ten play, MSU has gotten smacked around by Iowa twice, in addition to dropping a pair of games to mediocre teams, most recently a 72-71 home loss on Wednesday to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

So what gives? What happened to the team of before? And what's wrong with MSU basketball?

Not playing smart

MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo has stressed after the last two games that there are three things a team has to do in order to win — play hard, play tough and play smart.

While Izzo feels his team has been able to do the first two, it's the last one where he feels his team has been coming up short.

"We just didn't play smart enough," Izzo said. 

Against Wisconsin, the Spartans squandered a four-point lead in the final-minute game, a Badger comeback made possible by a crucial Eron Harris turnover during the final 30 seconds of the game.

In addition to this, the Spartans simply couldn't defend without fouling. MSU was called 28 fouls against the Badgers. While Izzo attempted to correct this before the Nebraska game, and while MSU committed only 15 fouls against the Cornhuskers, Izzo feels they didn't play smart in another way — this time by letting the offense drive right past them.

And as for Izzo's post game message to his team Wednesday night, it went right back to one thing — playing smart. The Spartans held a five-point lead late in the second half, but once again let the lead slip away.

"(Izzo) just told us we've got to cover all cylinders if we're going to win," Harris said. "These are big games that we're playing and everybody's coming after our neck. Everybody has been the whole time. He told us that we're covering most of the parts but we haven't been playing smart." 

In short, Izzo is pleased with how his team has been playing overall, and said he believes they should have been able to win each of its last two games, but is disappointed in their inability to close.

"When you've got a lead, you've got to take care of the ball," Izzo said. "You can't make bad decisions, and we did. When that happens, that lead went from four or five up to six or seven down like that. When those things happen, we've got to be smarter than that." 

Injuries/lineup issues

Like it or not, this is a legitimate excuse. The Spartans simply have not had the opportunity to be the same team that got off to that 13-0 start. When MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine went down with a knee injury right before Christmas, the Spartans were without their best player and All-American candidate.

Even when Valentine returned to the court, Izzo said he struggled to gel back into his normal role with the team

"I've been concerned about one thing when (Denzel) came back," Izzo said after MSU's second loss to Iowa of the season on Jan. 14. "People are going to think, because (Denzel's) back, you know I went through this two years ago, you get guys back with injuries and sometimes everybody just relies on that guy." 

But right when Valentine was getting back to his original self, it was announced sophomore point guard Lourawls 'Tum Tum' Nairn Jr. would be out for an undisclosed amount of time, which means the Spartans are currently navigating the meat of their Big Ten schedule without a true point guard on their active roster.

This has not only led to a constantly shuffling lineup, but it's also meant the loss of a very energetic and vocal leader for the Spartans.

"It's crazy," Harris said. "He brought so much energy to the floor." 

In addition to this, Nairn is also arguably one of MSU's best defenders. He hasn't been in the lineup the last few games, and it's showed. Wisconsin's Bronson Koenig went off for 27 points Sunday, and Wednesday, Nebraska's Glynn Watson Jr. — not normally a big time scorer — finished with 13 points and was able to find himself with several open shots.

"Right now, we're missing that lock down defender and for the most part, depending on who we put him on, it's been Tum," Izzo said.  

Why the season is not over

Through 20 games last season, the Spartans stood at 13-7. At the time, it was the worst the Spartans had looked in years, and the fan base was moaning over what seemed to be an imminent NIT appearance.

Come March, however, the Spartans found themselves in the Final Four.

"That's why I'm not losing faith," Harris said. "We've got a group of guys that want to win. Right now, we're going through a struggle. That's life so we got to keep our heads in this tough time." 

So no, this is in no way uncharted territory for the Spartans, much less for Izzo.

"In my career, I've been through a hell of a lot more than this," Izzo said. "I'm just disappointed that we would lose games cerebrally, especially some of the guys involved in it right now. Shouldn't be doing that." 

And Valentine said those experiences Izzo has had is what will bring the team back on track.

"He's been through pretty much everything with the teams that he's had over the last how many he's been coaching so just going to listen to him," Valentine said. "Try to do what we're coached to do and learn from it."