Michigan State basketball is in Florida for the Fort Myers Tip-Off, a two game showcase against East Carolina and North Carolina. In the first matchup, with the Spartans playing the Pirates of ECU, MSU dominated, winning 89-56.
In such a dominating effort, there is not a ton to take away from the game, in a serious manner, because of how well the Spartans played as a whole. Although in this game, a couple of things stood out that are massive takeaways, and would be welcomed for this MSU team.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHere are three takeaways from the Spartans dominating win over ECU:
1. Divine Ugochukwu has found his offense
The best scoring game of his career, Ugochukwu scored a career high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Throughout this year, Ugochukwu has shown signs of strong offensive play, with a nice jump shot, but it hasn't come together until today.
Michigan State doesn't need Ugochukwu to be a double digit scorer on a nightly basis, but if he can provide a small offensive spark off the bench, it adds a whole new dimension to MSU when Jeremy Fears Jr. is off the court.
2. If MSU has found their three point stroke, watch out
The Spartans went 13-for-28 (46%) from three against the Pirates on Tuesday, heating up once again from beyond the arc.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter starting the first three games of the season 13-of-60 (21.7%), the Spartans have gone 32-for-77 (41.6%) in the last three games, and they have shown one thing, they are one of the most dangerous teams in the nation if the three pointers are falling.
While MSU is not as bad as the first three, and probably not as good as the last three, the truth lies in the middle, but the Spartans have shown that when the shots are falling, watch out.
3. This is an MSU team
The attitude and effort of this MSU team is unbelievably outstanding, and a staple of what Tom Izzo built this program on. Despite being up 30 and 40 at times today, you would never know it. The Spartans never acted like it wasn't a one possession game, diving for loose balls, playing hard on defense, and most importantly, rebounding.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe attitude and effort we see from this team will propel them to win a lot of games this year. This is a tailormade Michigan State team, if I have ever seen one.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Three takeaways from Michigan State's impressive win over ECU
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