Five Takeaways: No. 13 Michigan State escapes Maryland after blowing 15-point lead

The Spartans got everything they wanted and more from the Terrapins tonight.

With 11 seconds left in a tie game, Michigan State junior forward Malik Hall drove the paint and scored over heavy traffic to help the Spartans escape Maryland with a 65-63 victory.

Maryland inbounded with two second left, but guard Fatts Russell's heave from halfcourt went long as time expired.

The game's early-proceedings indicated this would be a tight battle, as neither team was able to create separation. Maryland held a 15-14 lead through the first nine minutes of play.

That one-point Terrapin lead held through the 5:39 mark in the first half, before Michigan State went on a 13-2 run to close the frame and take a 35-25 lead into the locker room.

The Spartans' lead quickly grew to 15 points to start the second half (42-27), but Maryland responded with an 11-0 run to cut it back to 42-36 at the 15:00 mark. The teams went back and forth over the next 12 minutes of play, with Michigan State holding off several rallies by the Terrapins. However, with just under three minutes to play, Maryland finally completed the comeback, tying the game 61-61.

Hall hit a pair of free throws with two and a half minutes left to give the lead back to Michigan State, but Maryland's Donta Scott even things back up from the charity stripe just seconds later. Neither team scored again until Hall's game-winning layup.

1. Balanced scoring

The Spartans' depth remains a strength. As usual, no player had a huge scoring effort for MSU, but five different players scored seven points or more tonight. Hall came up big, leading the Spartans with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, to go along with four rebounds. Joey Hauser contiuned his strong play of late with 10 points (4-of-5 shooting), five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Marcus Bingham Jr. also scored 10 points, and added six rebounds. Max Christie and Tyson Walker each scored seven points, but the pair of guards combined to shoot just 4-of-14 from the floor.

2. Defensive intensity was lacking

In the second half against Michigan, the Spartans' defense was impenetrable, suffocating the Wolverines in their half court sets. Tonight, however, Michigan State didn't have that same edge on the defensive end of the floor. Maryland shot 43 percent from the floor, despite a 4-for-17 effort from behind the three-point arc. The Terrapins are one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the Big Ten. Michigan State did finish the game with nine steals and two blocks as a team, but intensity on defense was lacking at times.

3. Free throw shooting

Michigan State has been really good from the free throw line this season, and that was the case again tonight against the Terrapins. Seven of the Spartans' first 14 points of the game came from the charity stripe, and Michigan State finished the game 14-of-15 from the foul stripe. This has been an overlooked factor in MSU's 17-4 record this year, but it was a big part of tonight's victory.

4. Spartans improve on turnovers, still room for growth

Michigan State only had three turnovers at halftime, and quickly built their largest lead of the game out of the locker room at 15 points. But the Spartans got a little loose with the basketball in the second half. Michigan State had eight giveaways in the second frame as the Terrapins made their comeback, to finish the game with 11 TOs. Oftentimes, we've seen the Spartans have a bunch of giveaways early in a game, before settling in and having better ball control in the second half. Tonight, the opposite happened, and it nearly cost Michigan State dearly. Still, the ball control was better for the Spartans tonight.

5. Michigan State keeps pace in Big Ten race

With tonight's win, the Spartans kept pace with Illinois and Wisconsin atop the Big Ten standings at 8-2 in conference play. Just after the three-way tie sits Purdue (7-3), followed by Ohio State (6-3) and Indiana (7-4). Michigan State has another road game to look forward to this weekend, as they travel to Rutgers on Saturday. The Spartans will then host Wisconsin on Feb. 8 in a massive game between the conference's current co-leaders.