Steaming-mad Spartans stomp Gophers, end two-game home losing streak

The Minnesota Golden Gophers have been enjoying a fabulous year of basketball so far, but they didn't figure to have a pleasant evening against Michigan State on Wednesday night in the Breslin Center. If timing is everything in sports, Tubby Smith's team drew the short end of the stick by squaring off with the Spartans at this particular point in time.
 
Unsurprisingly irritated by a two-game home losing streak to Northwestern and Penn State, Michigan State took out its enormous anger and full-throttle frustration on the luckless Gophers, who had to sit around and take a powerful pounding in East Lansing. Tom Izzo's team regained full-tilt intensity to mash Minnesota, 76-47, to momentarily retake sole possession of the Big Ten lead.

In many ways, the story of this game was already written over the past couple of weeks, as an evidently talented State squad stepped off the gas pedal in unfathomable home-court setbacks to two of the league's not-so-famous basketball schools. It was painful enough to see a 28-game home-court winning streak come to an end; it had to be a hundred times more agonizing for Izzo and company to see their Breslin brilliance vanish against Northwestern, the longtime conference doormat, and a Penn State team that--while certainly solid and talented--is not on par with Illinois or Purdue.
 
Michigan State gave away those two home games due to uneven effort and woeful offensive execution. With the meat of the league season yet to come, this game against the Gophers turned into a very urgent affair. Wednesday's wipeout of a good Minnesota ballclub will expunge part of the bitter taste from their mouths, but in many ways, the Spartans have to wonder--now more than ever--how they ever lost to the Wildcats and Nittany Lions on home-colored hardwood.
 
Indeed, how did Michigan State mess up against less-credentialed foes? The Spartans--when infused with energy and focus--could do little wrong against the Gophers. As was the case in their Dec. 31 visit to Minneapolis (the Big Ten opener for both clubs), the Spartans crushed Minnesota on the boards. Over a month ago, the tally on the glass was 41-22 in favor of State; Wednesday, the guys in green grabbed 39 rebounds to Minnesota's 21. With a disparity that large, the visitors from the Land of 10,000 Lakes had little chance of remaining competitive for very long.

That's not an idly made statement, either. It's literally true that this game remained in doubt for a short period of time.
 
When MSU guard Kalin Lucas put the ball in the basket with 4:58 left in the first half, the Spartans--snarling, snorting and just plain ornery, for all the obvious reasons--established a 32-9 lead. Minnesota would never make a single credible response to that knockout blow. Izzo, being true to form (oh, to have been in a Spartan practice session the past few days!), kept cracking the whip and demanding zero let-up from his players, who kept the pedal to the metal well into the second half before easing off a little down the stretch. A slight softening of their stance didn't really ease the sting for the Gophers, who wished that the Spartans could have knocked around Northwestern and punched Penn State, saving a home clunker for February 4.
 
So, Michigan State has temporarily righted the ship. The only question--obvious but oh-so-necessary--is as follows: Can the Spartans--so good in their best moments but prone to debilitating lapses--find the consistency needed to put the Big Ten at their feet? We have one full month to find out.

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