Indianapolis – Whether it was needed or not hardly mattered, but Michigan State finally got the close game it hadn’t had for the better part of the last two months.
Entering Saturday’s Big Ten tournament semifinal against third-seeded Maryland, Michigan State had won 11 of its last 12 games, and only one of those came by less than 10 points.
As luck would have it, that one win was a nine-point victory over Maryland – the opponent on Saturday.
And while Tom Izzo hardly passed his team with flying colors, second-seeded Michigan State did make enough plays late to pull out a 64-61 victory and advance to Sunday’s championship game against Purdue.