Michigan State basketball finally learning that early bird does get the worm, and the win

EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo continued to marvel at what Michigan State basketball did out of the gate Sunday at Maryland.

Running in transition. Hitting open shots. Defending at a high level. All those things leading to a 13-0 first-half run 10 minutes into the game and a 15-point lead after a little less than 14 minutes of play.

“We played some of our best basketball at Maryland of the whole year,” Izzo said Tuesday, pointing to that opening half.

Another strong opening salvo after beginning the season having issues after tipoff. And that fast start became important later for the Spartans as the Terrapins crawled back into the game, one MSU survived for its first road victory, 61-59.

Something Izzo and his players know needs to continue if they want to win another away game Friday at No. 10 Wisconsin (8 p.m./FS1). Especially having learned that from experience.

The Spartans (12-7, 4-4) opened Big Ten play at home against the Badgers (15-4, 7-1) on Dec. 5. MSU struggled from the outset in the first meeting at home. Wisconsin built a quick 20-8 lead 9½ minutes into the game en route to a 70-57 victory.

“I think we're just more together as a team,” said senior Malik Hall, who played in the first meeting with the Badgers despite being sick. “As the year goes on, you're just continuing to grow, you continue to evolve.”

Those early-season issues with sluggish starts began during an exhibition loss to Tennessee in late October. The Spartans fell behind, 17-1, less than 4½ minutes into the game and trailed by as many as 18 in the first half. They would recover but fall to the Vols, 89-88.

Then came an instant and seemingly improbable stumble in the season opener Nov. 6, also at Breslin. James Madison stunned then-top 5 MSU with a 23-10 burst over the first 12 minutes, which the Spartans recovered from but couldn’t overcome by falling, 79-76 in overtime.

Falling behind in the first half became a pattern in MSU’s losses into December. Down 11 at the half in a loss to Duke, clawing back and losing by nine. Down 15 against Arizona, storming back to take a lead late in the second half before running out of gas and falling by six. The outlier came at Nebraska, where the Spartans took a seven-point lead in the first 8 minutes before the Cornhuskers charged back for a seven-point win.

That road loss dropped the Spartans to 0-2 to start league play and 4-5 overall. What followed, though, flipped the season.

MSU tore into then-No. 6 Baylor immediately on Dec. 16 in Detroit, going up 19 after a little more than 12 minutes and building it to a 30-point halftime cushion. The Spartans coasted from there to an 88-64 victory.

In winning eight of its last 10 starting with that Baylor game, Izzo’s team has gotten off to significantly better starts in nine of them. That has helped fend off opponents’ comebacks during the Spartans’ ongoing three-game win streak — a six-point halftime lead part of an 18-point win over Rutgers (aided by a 19-0 second-half run); an eight-point lead in the first five minutes against Minnesota providing momentum and a 17-7 run late to close out an 11-point win.

“We got better. We got a lot better,” senior A.J. Hoggard said after practice Tuesday. “And we learned from things that we weren't doing as well in the beginning of the game. We shored those up, and we came out and are starting off a lot of games better.”

The Spartans’ hot start Sunday proved beneficial as the Terps turned things around with a 21-6 spurt over the first 12½ minutes of the second half.

Even in a 14-point defeat at Northwestern on Jan. 7, MSU was up four midway through the first half before the Wildcats closed the half on a game-changing 18-5 run over the final 7 minutes before halftime. The worst start since the last Wisconsin game came in a more competitive loss at Illinois four days later, with the Spartans falling behind by seven just 5 minutes into the game and by 10 midway through the first half. They recovered to take a six-point lead early in the second half but couldn’t hang on as the Illini eventually won by three.

“It helps the morale, for sure,” Hall said. “When you start off at a deficit, it makes the game so much harder. So being able to either be even or a little ahead, that helps a lot.”

A big reason for that has been the tone-setting play of seniors Hall and Tyson Walker.

Walker, who remains the Spartans’ closer late in games, is averaging 10.2 points in the first half over the six Big Ten games this month even though he and Izzo have felt the team’s leading scorer has disappeared for stretches.

And Hall, despite being shutout completely against Northwestern, is averaging 8.2 points and 3.4 points by halftime. The 6-8 forward has scored MSU’s first points in each of the last three games, making two of the first three baskets against both Maryland and Rutgers, plus three of the first five against Minnesota.

“Malik Hall has been a big difference in why we've made this little surge here,” Izzo said. “And I hope that continues because he's going to be a very important part as we move forward.”

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

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Next up: Badgers

Matchup: Michigan State (12-7, 4-4 Big Ten) at No. 10 Wisconsin (15-4, 7-1).

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday; Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin.

TV/radio: FS1; WJR-AM (760).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball putting together stronger first-half starts