Back to the Michigan State Spartans Newsfeed

Michigan State basketball has bursts of offense, but not when it needs it most

Spartans football coach Mel Tucker addresses the Breslin Center crowd during the first half of MSU's basketball game against Maryland, Feb. 15, 2020. Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING — They aren’t the team they thought they’d be. That’s been obvious for a while.

For reasons well-documented — injuries, personal tragedy — and for reasons getting easier to see, a pattern has emerged for these Michigan State Spartans: When it comes time to win, it’s the other team that too often makes the play.

Or plays.

As Maryland did Saturday evening at Breslin Center, when the first-place Terrapins made four consecutive three-pointers in the last three minutes of the game to win, 67-60, stealing the game and ending MSU’s Big Ten title hopes.