I don’t know how you leave a team out of the NCAA tournament that just hung back-to-back wins over No. 4-ranked Illinois and No. 5 Ohio State.
Michigan State didn’t bully the Buckeyes on Thursday night the way it did the Illini. MSU didn’t have everything going this time. In some ways, that makes this 71-67 win more impressive.
Several things were familiar: the physicality, the poise and the play of Aaron Henry. That’s the identity of these late-February Spartans. These guys aren’t backing down. They might foul out at some point. But this is how they’re going to play.