"March is about finding ways to win a game against different types of teams," Valentine said. "If a team is guarding you good one game and you're not shooting well, you can't get the shots you want, but you're playing defense. You still have a good chance to win the game. So, all these games in the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament are games to get prepared for March."

Izzo said he is now starting to appreciate the rankings MSU has as the team has sustained them throughout the season, especially the assists, three-point field goal percentage and the field goal percentage defense.

Senior guard Denzel Valentine said he thinks the balance of the team having been so consistently good offensively, defensively and on the glass can make the team much more dangerous come both the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

"The other thing that is impressive to me is that we are now ranked (first) in about four or five categories in the nation," Izzo said. "When you’ve got field-goal shooting defense and three-point shooting offense as one of them that is pretty good balance. Rebounding is also one of them so now you are taking care of defense, offense and rebounding which I think is a big plus."

The balance has been so good that both Valentine and senior forward Matt Costello said this year's team is easily one of the deepest and most balanced team they have been on in their four years at MSU.

One of the biggest improvements MSU has made throughout the season is in its communication on the defensive end. After the Penn State game Sunday, Penn State coach Pat Chambers was highly complimentary of MSU's communication on the defensive end, which junior guard Eron Harris said has been a big focus of the team.

"We’ve been working on that from day one, but it’s part of the culture here at Michigan State communicating on and off the court. It’s the most important thing," Harris said. "That’s one of the other things we pride ourselves on, it goes along with the defensive thing, it’s very important."

Izzo said he is urging his players to not take a team like Rutgers lightly when MSU travels to New Jersey to play on Wednesday, especially with all the upsets this season. He said while he could be worried about playing three games in six days to close out the season, he is interested to see how his team responds.

And with a new No. 2 ranking and leading the country in many statistical categories, Izzo is pleased with where the team is at.

"I feel good about where we are right now," Izzo said. "I feel good about how we practiced last week. I feel good about the focus I’m starting to see. And I feel really good about players taking criticism, taking coaching, whatever you want to call it and kind of learning and growing from it. And those two big guys, I mean, I think it was three good halves after what I consider a poor half and that speaks volumes. So yeah, I feel good about where we are, I just know we got a long way to go if we accomplish what we want to accomplish.”