3 things we learned from No. 10 Michigan State’s 77-70 upset of No. 7 Michigan

The two Big Ten rivals will do this again in East Lansing two weeks from now.

No. 10 Michigan State snapped a three-game losing streak to rival and seventh-ranked Michigan with a 77-70 triumph over the Wolverines Sunday afternoon in Ann Arbor. The upset snapped a 22-game home winning streak for Michigan inside the Crisler Center. It also marked the first time since Feb. 20, 1986 that the Spartans have won a road game against a top 10 Michigan team.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the first of two meetings between these Big Ten powerhouses.

1. Even without Langford and Ward, Michigan State is once again the team to beat in the Big Ten

For the first time since league play began all the way back in early December, there is a clear team to beat in the Big Ten.

Michigan State’s win in Ann Arbor puts the Spartans a half game ahead of Purdue in the conference standings, and a full game ahead of Michigan. Tom Izzo’s team will almost certainly be favored win each one of its final three games of the regular season — at Indiana, vs. Nebraska, and then in the return game against Michigan at home.

Michigan State and Purdue split their two regular season meetings, which means if the two teams finish tied atop the Big Ten standings, the tiebreaker will move to which one has the best record against the next-best team in the league. That team would almost certainly be Michigan. The Boilermakers lost their lone meeting against the Wolverines, meaning Michigan State is the only team in the conference that controls its own destiny when it comes to being the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

The conversation surrounding Sparty at the beginning of the week was how heavily they might be limping to the finish line without the injured Joshua Langford (done for the season) and Nick Ward (likely out for at least the regular season). Now, MSU once again looks like the Big Ten’s top dog.

Michigan and Michigan State will meet again two weeks from now on the final day of the regular season, March 9, in East Lansing. It seems almost more likely than not that at least a share of the league’s regular season title will be on the line for one or both of the teams.

2. Cassius Winston is the Big Ten Player of the Year

If Cassius Winston entered the weekend as the favorite to win Big Ten Player of the Year, he left it with even more space between himself and his competition.

It seems like the more Izzo asks of his star point guard, the more Winston is able to deliver. Against one of the best defensive teams in the country, and with no other real shot creators on his team, Winston was at his absolute best on Sunday. Using the high pick-and-roll as effectively as you’re ever going to see from a lead guard, Winston torched Michigan for a game-high 27 points while also dishing out a game-high eight assists. That’s two more assists than the Wolverines had as a team.

There has been some worry that without Ward and Langford, there’s simply too much on the shoulders of Winston for this Michigan State team to be a legitimate Final Four threat. Perhaps that winds up being true come March, but it certainly didn’t appear to be the case on Sunday.

3. Iggy Brazdeikis returns to form

Michigan already has a terrific NCAA tournament resume, but one of the primary concerns surrounding the Wolverines’ ability to play deep into March has been the recent play of star freshman Iggy Brazdeikis. The team’s leading scorer at 14.4 ppg, Brazdeikis hasn’t been himself over the past two weeks, and there’s been some worry that perhaps he had hit a freshman wall. Over Michigan’s last four games heading into Sunday, the Canadian import had been held to single figures in scoring twice, had shot just 12-of-33 from the field and only 5-of-16 from three.

Brazdeikis put any fears about his recent play to bed with a stellar 16-point, nine rebound effort on Sunday. He was the best player on the floor for an extended stretch at the beginning of the second half in which Michigan appeared to take control of the game. Michigan State took back that control once foul trouble sent Brazdeikis to the bench and limited his effectiveness after he returned to the floor.

Overall, four of Michigan’s five starters scored in double figures for the game. Ultimately, that wasn’t enough to overcompensate for just six bench points (all from Isaiah Livers) and a 1-for-8 shooting effort from second-leading scorer Charles Matthews.