Revisionist History: Looking back on No. 1 Kansas topping MSU

Did you guys have fun this basketball season?

Hey, so did we! So, why not go back and look at every big game MSU played this last season? (I mean, it’s the offseason. What else are you going to do?)

This summer our Revisionist History series will look back on what happened during the games and what they felt like at the time. We will only be doing this for the big games (if you were looking for a Louisiana Monroe rewind, I’m sorry), and we plan to have a lot of these.

The idea is not only to remember the (mostly) good times this season, but also spark discussion in the comments. Let’s have fun with this, and Go Green!

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1 Kansas 92, No. 10 MSU 87 (Nov. 6)

So...what happened again?

When I think about this game I instantly think “Oh yeah. Blood bath in the first half and then mitigating the damage in the second half to make it look like an OK loss.”

That’s kind of what happened.

First off, hey, look at this Aaron Henry fella! Welcome to college, kid!

That’s such a good play, he probably earned immunity from Izzo and will never, ever get yelled at the whole season! And it wasn’t going that bad in the first eight minutes with MSU down 18-16!

But, unfortunately, halves are 20 minutes long. Kansas used their athleticism and help from MSU playing a tad sloppy to conjure up a 21-7 run (why does that read like a 2018 Kansas vs. MSU football score?). That helped the Jayhawks sit at halftime on a 50-36 lead.

MSU kept pace with Kansas in the second half, but sadly when you’re down 14 at halftime keeping pace just isn’t enough. The Spartans went away quietly with a loss OH NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND.

Sure, MSU was down 12 with four minutes remaining, but they kept it tight. So tight, in fact, that MSU was down just three points with 35 seconds left after a Kyle Ahrens 3-ball. Well, at this point you know how it ended…but it was close!

And hey, and Joshua Langford had a team-high 18 points! Man, he’s due for a breakout season. Can’t wait!

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

What this game meant (at the time)

Looking back, I remember three things.

A) The kids are going to be alright! They took their licks against a tough, numero uno-ranked Kansas team and hung with them for the entire game*. No, it wasn’t a perfect game, but making that game a five point loss in their first game without Miles Bridges or Jaren Jackson was...kind of relieving?

I don’t know, you got the sense this team was going to be pretty good after that one. Maybe not win-the-Big-Ten-good and almost probably not reach-a-Final-Four-good...but good enough to be good. Sound good?

*just forget about that 21-7 run part. thanks.

B) Did...did Kenny Goins just shoot EIGHT 3-pointers? And make three of them? Those eight long ball attempts were more than half of what he had in his whole career leading up to that night.

If Kenny G suddenly has the slightest semblance of an outside threat, that’ll be fun. I mean, he’ll never go on to make one of the biggest shots in MSU history or anything like that, but it’ll be a cute little quirk to throw at other teams every once in a while.

C) 18 turnovers. Great. More turnovers issues.

Death. Taxes. Back-breaking MSU turnovers issues early in the season.

Cool.