From the beginning, this was a basketball season that always was going to be defined by losses for Michigan State. More so than almost any other in Tom Izzo’s quarter-century as the Spartans’ head coach.
The team lost senior Joshua Langford to a recurring foot injury a couple weeks before the opener against Kentucky. Marquette transfer Joey Hauser lost his appeal for an eligibility waiver a month later. And in between, Cassius Winston lost his brother, Zachary, a tragedy that understandably cast a pall over the entire program.
None of that will change Sunday, but after a season that started in distress and couldn’t seem to shake it for the longest time, there’s something to be said for the situation the Spartans now find themselves in, hosting Ohio State in their regular-season finale with a chance to clinch a third consecutive Big Ten championship.