The week was saved for the Illinois basketball team as we took down the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday.
This was a huge victory for the Illini. After getting beat down by Rutgers earlier in the week, Illinois needed a rebound win to stay strong in the national rankings.
Michigan State would provide a fight at the end despite being down 12 points at halftime. Illinois’ senior leadership would come up huge with a big shot in the waning moments to seal the victory, 79-74.
Here are five observations from the Illinois basketball win vs Michigan State.
1. Grandison woke up
It has been a while, but it looks like Jacob Grandison woke up from his daze and unleashed fury on the Michigan State Spartans.
Grandison had been struggling greatly heading into the game on Saturday. I was calling for his starting job to be given to a freshman, that is how bad he was playing.
In the previous four games, Grandison was averaging 5.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 turnovers per game. He was averaging 22 minutes in each contest during this stretch as well.
Grandison’s shooting is what was most concerning. He forgot how to make three-pointers. In that four-game stretch, he was just 4-of-17 from three-point range, which is the worst stretch of the season. A 40% three-point shooter was only hitting 23.5% of his three-point shots.
But on Saturday against Michigan State, Grandison could see clearly now that the rain was gone. He would have his best of the season when it mattered the most. Grandison would finish with 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, and shot 6-of-10 from three-point range.
Illinois needed Grandison to come through, especially from the three-point arc. His presence from deep is what won this game. Without Grandison playing at an elite level, this is probably a loss.