EAST LANSING — It is a loss that haunts Michigan State basketball. And it is one that took control out of the Spartans’ hands in their hunt for a third straight Big Ten title.
A furious rally. A seven-point lead with a little more than 3 minutes to play. An ear-splitting crowd.
All for naught as Maryland turned the Breslin Center silent in a flash with four 3-pointers and a 14-0 run to close out a 67-60 victory Feb. 15.
Two weeks later, the return visit is at hand. And Saturday’s rematch is a critical game for No. 24 MSU, in a tie for second place and two games behind the conference-leading, eighth-ranked Terrapins with three to play.
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“I wouldn't call it revenge. That's a good team,” MSU senior point guard Cassius Winston said after practice Thursday. “It's a key game for us, though. If we want our season to keep going … this is a game that we need.”
Here is what to watch when the Spartans (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) and Terps (23-5, 13-4) tip off at 8 p.m. (ESPN) at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland:
Point of attack
That first meeting proved to be a stellar battle of point guards making big plays down the stretch.
Winston had 14 points and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 7:04 left but was limited to 5-for-13 shooting and committed four turnovers.
Cowan, who had two points through the first 17-plus minutes of the first half, hit three 3s and two crucial free throws in the final 2:24. Those long jumpers came in part due to defensive lapses by the Spartans.
“He's great for that team, he's a winner,” Winston said of Cowan, who finished with 24 points. “He knows what it takes to get his guys going and to come up big in those moments where his team needs him.
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Breaking bad
When MSU coach Tom Izzo scanned the box score after Wednesday’s 78-70 home win over No. 17 Iowa, he initially missed an impressive stat: MSU outscored the Hawkeyes, 24-0, on the fastbreak.
Part of that is Winston pushing the pace off makes and misses, including one possession early in the second half in which he took an inbound pass after an Iowa bucket and drove the length of the court through traffic for a layup.
“I think we're rebounding the ball a little bit better,” Winston said. “I think I'm pushing it a little bit better. And we're making sure that's an emphasis on our offense, getting out on that break.”
The Iowa game was the first time the Spartans had the edge in fastbreak points since winning at Wisconsin on Feb. 1, a game in which MSU outscored the Badgers 11-0 in transition. Five straight opponents held an edge in transition scoring on the Spartans in the interim, including Maryland with a 17-13 edge in the first meeting that included a 7-1 edge in the first 8-plus minutes en route to a 15-point cushion before halftime.
“It starts in practice,” sophomore Aaron Henry said. “We got to recreate that energy. We got to kind of form that type of mindset where we know what happened here at the Breslin … just knowing that it's gonna be a hard game to play in high energy from both teams. And we gotta rise our level of play.”
Maryland update
The Terrapins have won 10 of their past 11 and are 15-0 at home this season, though they have been tested a few times recently at Xfinity Center – a five-point win over Rutgers on Feb. 4, a two-point win over Nebraska on Feb. 11, and a 76-67 win over Northwestern on Feb. 18.
A win over MSU would give the Terps at least a share of their first Big Ten title, and first conference crown since sharing the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship in 2010.
Cowan, a 6-foot senior, leads Maryland with 16.2 points a game and 4.8 assists. Jalen Smith, a 6-10 sophomore forward, averages 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds and has 18 double-doubles this season, and 6-6 sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins averages 10.7 points and 5.2 boards.
“We're gonna have to guard them,” Izzo said. “I'm more worried about the dribble penetration and rebounding more than anything. Transition defense – last time we took some bad shots, they ended up with run-outs, and those run-outs ended up layups and dunks.”
Prediction
Home-court advantage has proven key in the Big Ten. And though the Spartans will give Maryland a game, Cowan and Smith are too much to handle again down the stretch with a title so close. Pick: Maryland 77, Michigan State 69
Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
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