"It was all mental," Harris said. "Back then, the Wisconsin game, there were things (Izzo) said in the huddle that I heard, but I went out there and forgot, it was a cognitive thing. So this game, I put it on myself just to stay calm, really listen, internalize it and bring it out on the court." 

MSU held Maryland just one field goal in the final 10:23 of the game to ensure that despite a struggling offense, MSU still had a chance to win the game. 

Senior guard Denzel Valentine said MSU's ability to lock-in on the defensive end when the offense was struggling and grind out a win shows the growth and maturity of the team. 

"I think it shows our maturity as far as late game really digging deep and not letting the offense affect how we're playing defensively," Valentine said. "So that just shows our maturity and our growth as far as making stops and playing good defense down the stretch."

Saturday's 64-61 win over Maryland marked the first time MSU has won against a Big Ten opponent in a game decided by less than eight points since beating Maryland last season in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. MSU had been 0-3 in such Big Ten games this season. 

Senior guard Bryn Forbes said having to grid out a win like MSU did on Saturday is good for the team going forward as he expects them to run into more tight games Sunday against Purdue and in the NCAA Tournament. 

"It's been a while since we got some close games, to be able to pull that game out, I think it's big for us," Forbes said, "(We) might see a few of those in the tournaments, (Big Ten and NCAA), so it's big." 

Izzo said he was worried about the potential of a close game because MSU had not experienced many of them this season. Izzo said it is hard to simulate the late game situations and mentally prepare players to be ready to preform down the stretch of a close game. 

As a result of the lack of close game experience this season for MSU, Izzo felt his team did not execute well enough, especially offensively, down the stretch of the game, but was happy to come away with the win. 

"I think every big tournament run I've been involved in, this last year at Louisville, national championship, Syracuse down 14, Iowa State down 16, the problem - one thing we've had -- and I've got to take a lot of blame for it -- we've not been in a lot of close games," Izzo said. "I think of the last 12 games we've had one close game. And it's hard to simulate that. It's hard to think about what you want to do."

MSU will now turn its sights to Purdue and the Big Ten title game Sunday at 3 p.m. Purdue has been the only team to beat MSU over MSU's last 13 games, but Valentine said playing Purdue is not necessarily giving the team more motivation, because it is a championship game.  

"This is a championship game," Valentine said. "And it's much more than getting revenge on Purdue. No disrespect to them. But we have bigger goals and aspirations. We want to win the championship. It makes it better because it so happens to be Purdue, and we lost to them earlier in the season. But at the same time, we're not worried about that. We're worried about holding that trophy up and them saying Michigan State Spartans are the champions. That's what we're worried about."