Michigan State basketball developing its identity and moving up Big Ten standings

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Something is beginning to form, an identity Tom Izzo sees cutting through some of the inconsistency Michigan State basketball continues to push through.

A team showing toughness and tenacity through the turbulence.

Tyson Walker’s step-back 3-pointer gave the Spartans a four-point lead with less than a minute to play Sunday. Maryland’s Jahmir Young, with his toe on the arc, answered with his own step-back shot at the other end, just over Tre Holloman’s outstretched arm — so close to a block that Young’s follow-through gave his defender a high-five.

During the ensuing stoppage with 36.3 seconds left, as referees examined the replay to determine how much Young’s shot was worth, A.J. Hoggard looked at Holloman as they huddled. The senior saw frustration in Holloman’s eyes as they huddled after the sophomore gave up a long jumper.

“It kind of drained him a little bit,” Hoggard said of his sophomore backcourt mate. “And I just told him, ‘Bro, he took a tough shot. Don't put your head down.’ I think that was in the back of his mind.”

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An opportunity for atonement awaited.

Walker’s jumper hit back-iron with 8 seconds left. Young grabbed the rebound. Holloman slowed him up just past midcourt. The Terrapins' fifth-year senior dribbled to the same spot he’d just scored from.

Hoggard said he knew if Holloman got another chance, he’d be thinking, “I'm not letting him tie it up or win the game on me right here.' ”

He was right.

Holloman made sure Young didn’t get a second chance to score. As Young started a crossover dribble, Holloman poked the ball away. Malik Hall dove on it in front of the Maryland bench.

Buzzer.

Game.

A first true road win of the season for MSU, 61-59.

And a third straight victory in which the Spartans found a way to put a game away late.

As Holloman explained: “I just thought Tyson was gonna hit the shot, but then he didn't. So then I had to sprint back. And then it was Jahmir Young coming down. I know that he's left-handed, so I just tried to cut off the left hand and then pocket it.”

An ebullient Walker pointed to Holloman’s heroics and the all-around effort on the final play.

“That's a big-time steal. Big time,” said Walker, who finished with 15 points and five steals. “And then Malik diving on the floor, that's big-time right there.”

That makes three straight wins while holding on down the stretch after MSU (12-7, 4-4 Big Ten) had blown a six-point, second-half lead in a loss at Illinois just 10 days earlier. The Spartans held off Rutgers and Minnesota in the past week with late finishing flurries — a 19-0 second-half spurt leading to a 73-55 pull-away against the Scarlet Knights last Sunday and a 14-4 closing run to whack the Gophers, 76-66, on Thursday.

“Other than that 5-minute stretch that almost cost us the game (in the second half), I thought we were very focused, we were very good in huddles,” Izzo said. “Those things are encouraging to me as we move on.”

Grinding out those victories lifted the Spartans into a three-way tie for fifth place in the Big Ten alongside Nebraska and Indiana. They remain on the road Friday, paying a return visit to No. 8 Wisconsin (8 p.m., FS1). The Badgers defeated MSU to open conference play Dec. 5 in East Lansing, and they sit atop the standings at 6-1 going into their road game Tuesday at Minnesota.

“This was good one to get,” Walker said. “Now, we're back in the race a little bit with the Big Ten. We know we got four (Big Ten) wins now, we just gotta put some games together.

“Today, we did a good job by closing out the game and getting stops down the stretch.”

After losing its first three road games of the Big Ten season, MSU went up by as many as 15 in the first half Sunday thanks to Holloman and Hall, who scored 10 of his 12 points before halftime. The Spartans carried a 44-32 lead into the break, and Walker had all of his steals as the Terps (11-8, 3-5) made just 37% of their shots and went 5-for-15 from 3-point range as MSU dared them to shoot.

Izzo called it “one of our best halves of basketball, both offensively and defensively” of the season. But he also pointed to the struggles the Spartans continued to show Sunday. Getting outrebounded by 15 and giving up nine offensive boards for 10 second-chance points was one. Continuing to miss free throws — going 12-for-16 at the line — was another. Getting six shots blocked in the second half also bothered Izzo.

He still felt like the comeback “showed a little grit” from his players.

“We still have a tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot on some things, and I thought poor shot selection was one of them,” Izzo said. “But it does say a lot about a team to bounce back. ... I think we needed to take one of those steps in a game, we really needed that. And I think it'll really help us.”

Coming out of halftime, Maryland fought its way back in behind two early 3-pointers, one each by Young and Scott, as MSU’s shooters went cold. Young's second of the half — also over Holloman — gave the Terrapins their only lead at 53-50 with 8:23 to play.

It turned into yet another rock fight for survival.

“I just kept saying before the game that energy is contagious,” Walker said. “I'm kind of always to myself just trying to bring the energy a little more, run a little harder. And I think we did a good job the first half, then we kind of got away from it.”

They found enough again in the last eight minutes, starting with Walker’s fifth steal of the game in between back-to-back Hoggard layups. Walker attacked and scored inside as well, with the six-point burst giving MSU the lead for good.

“Coming in, we knew this was a big win for us that we needed to get, so that was our mentality through the highs and the lows,” said Hoggard, who had 12 points and no turnovers in 35 minutes Sunday. “And I think we did a good job as veterans, keeping everybody even-keeled and not getting too high or too low and just finding a way to win.”

After Young’s 3-pointer, the Terps managed only seven shot attempts the rest of the game, missing four of them. They committed five turnovers from that point as well, including the last two by Young in the final two minutes.

The last of which was Holloman’s swipe. It was the second straight game the Spartans forced 19 turnovers and the 15th time they’ve created double-digit takeaways this season. They scored 19 points off those Maryland miscues.

MSU committed only eight turnovers, its ninth game this season with fewer than 10. The impressiveness of that is magnified are running in transition, including a 14-3 advantage against the Terps. MSU has scored 56 fast-break points and 49 points off 38 forced turnovers during its three-game win streak while committing only 22 giveaways.

Izzo’s team enters the new week ranked second in the nation in turnover margin (plus-12), ninth at 18.5 turnovers forced and 11th with just 6.5 turnovers committed per game. The Spartans also are 36th in Division I and first in the Big Ten at 15.5 fast-break points per game.

“It just goes to show you the growth, that we're maturing over these couple games and just learning from the past,” Hoggard said. “The past is always a good teacher. We've been in these situations before, and we knew how much this win meant to us. For everything. So it’s just (about) going out there and figuring out a way to win.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball developing identity, moving up in Big Ten