After a string of three turnovers in four possessions, Izzo had enough and pulled him. Christie has been the team’s leader in minutes played since the very first game of the season but found himself watching from the sideline down the stretch in a monumental game for the Spartans.

“Sunday, I looked fatigued because my mental head space wasn't in the right spot,” Christie said. “I had those couple turnovers and my mental headspace went to crap.”

The uncharacteristic off-night from MSU’s star did not impact the team, who won 77-67, but it left a permeating question for MSU heading into the postseason. Can MSU survive without its best player playing well? Can Max Christie live up to his five-star billing when it matters most?

In the first game of Michigan State’s postseason, Christie provided a litany of answers with one of his best performances of the season in MSU’s second round victory over Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament.

He was the leading force for a hot MSU offense, pouring in a team-high 16 points on 66.7% shooting and six rebounds. He also iced the game with four free throws in the final 31 seconds to help keep Maryland’s fervent comeback effort at bay.

“He did it at three levels… no, four levels,” Izzo said. “Shooting was good, his defense was pretty good, his rebounding was off the charts and then the free-throw shooting down the stretch. So he did it at four different levels, and I'm proud of him, happy for him.”

The performance came on the back of a week of soul-searching for Christie and Izzo. Izzo said the two of them “talked a lot” over the last four days to try and get Christie right mentally before the Big Ten tournament started and the talks seemed to have taken hold.

Christie looked like himself from start to finish in his team-leading 32-minute stint tonight. It started with stifling defense on Ayala and relentless effort to chase rebounds, which had been a sore spot of Christie’s game before tonight according to Izzo. Christie filled the statsheet with hustle plays in the first 10 minutes but did not attempt a shot.

It wasn’t the play of a timid freshman, but rather a veteran of the game who was picking and choosing the right spots to attack the defense. After playing 11 of the first 12 minutes of the game without taking a shot, Christie finally decided to put his stamp on the game with his shooting.

Sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard darted into the lane, drawing in Ayala before rifling it to a ready and waiting Christie on the left wing, who pulled the shot as soon as the ball touched his hands. Christie’s picture-perfect shooting motion was already complete by the time Ayala reacted and the ball hit nothing but net as he finished the close out. 

It was the start of a perfect half for Christie, who finished with 10 points on three made threes and a free throw in the first 20 minutes. It was a welcome sight for a player that had only hit three threes total in MSU’s five games before tonight. But for Christie himself, the work before the shots were more rewarding than breaking through his slump.

“When I made the first few I felt a lot more comfortable when I was out there,” Christie said. “But like coach said, when I got those rebounds and played as best defense as I could, I felt even better and I think that settled me in nice and easy. And then you combine that with the made shots, I think that's a good combination you can have, especially in March.”

The offense slowed in the second half for Christie while the team turned the ball over like it was their god-given duty (11 second-half turnovers for MSU), but he showed up again when the team needed him most and sank four free throws to deny Maryland’s 20-point comeback effort. 

“At the free-throw line, I'm confident in myself to make free throws in that situation,” Christie said. “I've worked on it for a long time, so by no means was I not confident or nervous that I was going to miss them. I knew I was going to make them as soon as I stepped there.”

The step in the right direction is just another rung in Christie’s slow climb in realizing his potential for Michigan State. The cerebral freshman who has been pegged by Izzo as beyond his years in terms of maturity took another large leap in growing up in the coach’s eyes. 

“I think we've all been waiting for Max. It's been a tough go for him for a while, for a couple weeks.” Izzo said. “Every press conference I had I kept telling him I had faith in him and tonight he was just smooth and good.”