Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 81-61 Big Ten title-clinching win over Illinois

Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on the Spartans' 81-61 win over the Illini Tuesday night at Breslin Center.

1. A Big Ten championship worth celebrating

EAST LANSING – There was a time at Michigan State when winning a Big Ten basketball title was just about the biggest thing in the world. See 1990 or 1998. 

These days, there are larger goals at MSU. Understandably so. Seven Final Fours in two decades will change what excites a fan base and what satisfies a program.

But a Big Ten championship is arguably harder to do — especially an outright one. MSU’s 81-61 win over Illinois on Tuesday night gave the Spartans (27-3, 15-2 Big Ten) at least a share of the Big Ten title, their first since 2012. They’ll try to win it outright Sunday if they win at Wisconsin. It would be their first outright Big Ten championship in nine years, MSU’s third in the Tom Izzo era and only the sixth in program history. That would make it a big deal in any era.

This isn’t a strong Big Ten. That’s inflated some of the records at the top. But it’s a strong top of the Big Ten, with MSU, Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan. Besting those three teams over two months is a heck of an achievement. And, importantly, it’s something this team will always have, regardless of what happens in March. 

“This is something that each individual is going to have and, anytime you come back, you can say that you won that,” sophomore Cassius Winston said.

Someone like Denzel Valentine would have loved to have a Big Ten championship a couple of years ago to give his remarkable senior season a firmer legacy after an early NCAA tournament exit. He never won one.

If MSU falls short of the Final Four, it’ll sting. The season will have elements of disappointment. After all, Miles Bridges came back to cut down nets later than this. But this Big Ten championship is something tangible and difficult that this group will have always accomplished. That puts them in a select group in Spartan lore.

The ear-to-ear smile on Miles Bridges’ face as he grabbed the trophy before the banner raising Tuesday night said this title does matter, a lot. 

“I’m really proud of this team,” Tom Izzo said. “I’m proud of what they’ve done. Normally it’s hard at the end of the year with a game left to celebrate anything, but with the fact that it’s senior night, to win a championship at home, at least to tie for one, is a special moment.”

It was also clear afterwards, from players and Izzo, that a shared Big Ten title — even a Big Ten title outright, if that’s the end — won’t be enough to feel good. Not this year.

“We have other things to accomplish,” Izzo continued. “Banners are what we like to do here, but it’s one of those years when I’m not satisfied with that one. I’d like to win one outright. And then I’d like to really compete in that Big Ten tournament. But probably more than anything, we need to get a little bit better. We need to get more consistent from one half to another.”

MORE:Michigan State clinches share of Big Ten with 81-61 win over Illinois on senior night

2. Tum Tum out of sorts early on senior day

Having Tum Tum Nairn at point guard doesn’t always lead to fluid offense for MSU, so there’s no scientific evidence that the emotions of senior day impacted Nairn’s early performance Tuesday night. But I’d bet my make-believe farm on it.

Nairn had two early turnovers, both of them careless and out of frazzled haste. He settled in later, including one nice tip pass from inside out to Bridges for a 3-pointer in the corner, and played like his usual self in the second half.

“This was by far the toughest game I’ve ever played in my career,” Nairn said in the locker room afterwards. “And I knew what was at stake — the Big Ten championship. This program means a lot to me, and I was trying so hard not to let the emotions get the best of me.

“The last time we were in the locker room (before the game) it really hit me. Then I was looking at the (countdown) clock and it had 1 minute on it. … I just looked at Coach Iz, I looked into his eyes, ‘Man, it’s here.’ Since then, I was trying my best to calm down but I couldn’t. It was tough.”

His off night early is understandable. Nairn had been thinking about this day for at least a year, his senior day. For him, more than others, this is home, his family. He’s about to leave. 

MSU began the night by playing “March on, Bahamaland,” the national anthem of the Bahamas, in tribute to Nairn. Then Izzo started Nairn for the first time all season.

“I had no idea they were going to play my national anthem,” Nairn said. “That really started to kick in some emotions, too, because I hadn’t heard that in so long. I even messed up on a couple of words, because I haven’t sang it in so long.”

MORE:  Couch: Tum Tum Nairn leads a senior class that Tom Izzo didn't want but is grateful for

3. Tum Tum’s day, but Cassius made the plays to ensure a proper sendoff

To properly do a senior night — especially one where your seniors are all reserves —you have to have a sizable lead. 

It was point guard Cassius Winston who orchestrated a 9-0 run to push MSU’s lead to 63-43 past the midway point in the second half. For about four minutes, Winston was brilliant with his passes — hitting Kenny Goins perfectly on an alley-oop dunk, then Xavier Tillman in stride for a breakaway fast-break dunk, then Goins for a 3 off the drive. 

Suddenly, MSU had the separation it needed. At the end, it was able to have Ben Carter, Gavin Schilling and Nairn in the game, to check out and kiss the Breslin Center floor one by one — Schilling, then Carter and finally Nairn.

As Nairn left the court, Illinois coach Brad Underwood gave him an emphatic handshake, understanding the moment, a classy move, even if it isn’t all that much fun to be the other team at the end of a game like this.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.