Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's emphatic 83-67 win over Michigan

1. Well, there it finally is — a dominant, feel-good home win for MSU

EAST LANSING – We hadn’t seen this yet from Michigan State this season.

The crowd bursting at the seams, Michigan State’s players feeding off the energy and playing with both the edge and execution it takes to pull away from a formidable foe.

We hadn’t seen the big 3-pointers expanding the lead, the offensive rebounds and players diving after loose balls, Tom Izzo blowing out his cheeks as his eyes welled because he was so dang happy with what he was seeing.

Things went right for MSU in the Spartans’ 83-67 win over Michigan on Saturday at Breslin Center. MSU made things go right, with a performance — in the second half especially — that again has us asking, “Why can’t they do that every time?”

That was a feel-good home win, the first of the season. The Spartans hadn’t shown the spurt-ability to have that sort of win yet, where a stretch of great play turns a five-point lead into 13 and then 18. Gabe Brown and Joey Hauser haven’t hit the dagger 3-pointers that allow you to run a team out of your building. They did Saturday. They were great down the stretch — after Max Christie, Malik Hall, Marcus Bingham Jr. and MSU’s two point guards, AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker, set the stage.

The student section at one point was chanting “Jo-ey How-zer.” Then watched MSU football receiver Keon Coleman score a bucket in the final minute, before Steve Izzo held the ball as the clock struck zeros at center court.

That is the epitome of a feel-good home win. You can’t have a successful season without a few of these. Better yet if they come against your rival.

Things will be different Tuesday at Maryland and next Saturday at Rutgers and if these two teams meet again in Ann Arbor on March 1 in a makeup game for the Jan. 8 postponement.

But there’s nothing wrong with home wins that make you feel good. Especially when they’re earned. That was an earned win, one that puts MSU at 7-2 nearly halfway through the Big Ten season. For today, there’s a lot for the Spartans to feel good about.

MORE: Couch: You can't trust these Spartans yet, but win over Michigan comes with reasons to believe

2. Freshman thoughts — the Michigan edition

Perhaps the best long-term development for MSU on Saturday was the performance it got out of freshman Max Christie. It was clear early on that for MSU to have a chance, Christie was going to have to have himself a game. And he did.

Four days after he looked somewhere between rattled and just off at Illinois, Christie carried the Spartans for a while, with a fearless and precise shooting performance in a spot where absolutely necessary. He finished with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but it was his 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half — including hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers — that set the stage for the Spartans in the game when they didn’t have much else going.

His first 3 came after three straight MSU empty possessions, with the Spartans trailing 14-8 and looking like they might be in for a rough afternoon. His second triple, while being fouled on the right wing, tied the game 18-18 (after he also hit the free throw). Then, with the Spartans back down four again, he buried another 3, this one from the corner to bring MSU back to within 22-21.

Christie looked smooth and confident when no one else did. And without him, MSU never would have been in position to have the second half it did. When I’ve written that MSU’s ceiling this season is tied to what Christie becomes in February, this is what I mean. On Jan. 29, he elevated the Spartans’ floor in a massive game.

He still made freshman mistakes, including digging down to help on Brandon Johns in the second half, giving up a 3-pointer by his man. But when MSU needed him most in this one, Christie came through.

Jaden Akins’ statistical impact was minimal Saturday, but if you watch the game, you know differently. He changes MSU athletically when he’s in the game. I thought he was MSU’s best perimeter defender against Michigan, guarding Eli Brooks and others. And his steal — wrestling away a pass from two Michigan players and saving it, setting up a Gabe Brown dunk for a 53-38 lead with 13:02 remaining — was one of the plays of the game.

Akins’ understanding of his role and ability to deliver in it remains an essential part of this MSU team.

3. The second half MSU’s point guards put together is what the Spartans need

Ten points, seven assists and one turnover (late, with the game already decided) in 20 minutes of basketball, turning a 39-35 halftime lead into a 16-point win — that’s what MSU needs from its two point guards in every half of basketball.

Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard put together, perhaps, their best half in tandem this season Saturday and, for the first time, we saw the Spartans’ ability to pull away from an opponent at home in Big Ten play. The correlation was clear.

Walker’s attacking layup over the defense early in the half helped set a tone. He missed a jump shot soon after. But it was exactly the shot Izzo wants him taking.

MSU’s 43-35 lead only expanded with Hoggard running the show. He was outstanding — every bit as good as he was at Wisconsin eight days earlier — hitting a floater, then a layup, then assisting on a Malik Hall jumper, extending MSU’s lead to 51-38, before giving way to Walker.

That stretch by both guys — sustained through good play the rest of the way, largely by Hoggard — won the game for MSU. And did so after a series of first-half turnovers by MSU (three by Walker) that prevented the Spartans from having a sizable cushion at halftime.

Walker and Hoggard are a long way from being consistent. I’m old enough to remember the Illinois game. But that was a collective gear in the second half — playmaking and valuing possessions — that will carry the Spartans a long way if they can repeat it, half after half.

MORE: Hunter Dickinson won some individual battles. MSU's big men did the little things to win the game.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State basketball thumps Michigan, 83-67: 3 quick takes