Three Key Takeaways.

Michigan State Appears to Have Put Things Together (USA Today Images)

1. Melo Trimble was borderline unstoppable early. The freshman was on fire from the opening jump and Michigan State’s defense struggled to contain him. When Trimble is knocking down threes off the dribble, he’s a considerable problem. His first three triples and five shots all found the bottom of the net, helping Maryland jump out to a quick and commanding 23-7 lead. However, after that initial spurt, two things slowed him down. Michigan State’s help defense improved on his touches and the Spartans also got a bit more physical with the youngster. That clearly threw him off his game — and after starting 5-of-5, Trimble made just two of his final 11 shots on the afternoon. This was the single biggest reason that Michigan State was able to climb back into the game.
2. Michigan State’s frontcourt was great. Matt Costello was at it again and Marvin Clark got in on the act too. Izzo said in the postgame press conference that Clark “idolizes” Branden Dawson, and while Dawson struggled for long periods of the game, Clark came in and brought great energy. He and Costello combined for 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and after allowing Maryland to hit the offensive boards early, they dominated the paint late. When Dawson finally got going, his athleticism took over the game late. He’s the most physically dominant player in the conference with his combination of size, strength and leaping ability, and he used it proficiently down the stretch. Dawson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
3. Maryland finally lost a close game. These teams were about as evenly matched as possible. When that had been the case previously this season, the Terps had won every single time. They came into today with an 11-0 record in games decided by six points or fewer, and that’s why KenPom rated them as the luckiest team in the nation. That record was unsustainable though, and as a result, Maryland finally picked up its first close-game blemish.

Player of the Game. Travis Trice. His statistics — 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting — tell some of the story, but it was how and when he got those numbers that made him so important. The two most crucial periods of the game were a first half stretch when Michigan State recouped some of the points it spotted Maryland right off the bat, and then an early second half run that ultimately gave the Spartans the lead. Trice was the best player on the floor during both of those stretches. The diminutive guard is never going to overpower his opponents, especially not against guards as strong as those at Maryland, but he was Sparty’s catalyst all afternoon long.

Sights and Sounds. After getting down to start the game, Michigan State’s fire and intensity ramped up. When the Spartans got within five points early in the second half, Tom Izzo was fist-pumping up and down the sideline to motivate his team. As the Spartans continued their run to take control of the game, Valentine and Trice were slapping the floor with so much force that their hands must have hurt.

Quotable.

• “Coach came in and said, ‘either you’re going to get the job done or I’m not going to play you.’” – Travis Trice, on Tom Izzo’s halftime message to Branden Dawson.
• “Answering a challenge is maybe the greatest thing you can learn as a young person.” – Izzo, who challenged his team at halftime, on his players’ response.
• “I think some people might debate that we played them. I mean, we were there. I’m not sure we played them.” – Izzo, on the Spartans’ last meeting with Wisconsin.
• “If you don’t like [Josh] Gasser, you don’t like real people.” – Izzo, on the Wisconsin guard.
• “Michigan State is really good defensively, they switch one through four, and they’re always aware of Jake [Layman].” — Mark Turgeon, on Layman’s offensive struggles.

What’s Next.

• Michigan State gets a huge opportunity to make a statement tomorrow with a big win over Wisconsin. The Spartans have been hot recently, and a win on Sunday in the Big Ten championship game would validate their recent success.
• Maryland will rest up for the NCAA Tournament. The Terps should be a #3 or #4 seed in next week’s action.

Henry Bushnell (39 Posts)

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 14th, 2015 at 5:15 pm by Henry Bushnell and is filed under 2015 conference tournaments, big 10, microsites. Tagged: big ten tournament, branden dawson, maryland, Melo Trimble, michigan state. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.