Michigan State vs. Maryland: Score, Twitter Reaction for Spartans' Upset Win

Never doubt head coach Tom Izzo in March. The Michigan State Spartans struggled during the regular season but will be playing for the Big Ten Conference championship thanks to their 62-58 upset win over the Maryland Terrapins Saturday at Chicago's United Center. 

The Spartans rallied from a huge deficit, trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half and outscoring Maryland by 12 points in the second half to set up a showdown with the Wisconsin Badgers in the title game.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, this was Michigan State's first victory all season over a team ranked in the Top 10:

That's an astounding stat because Michigan State is accustomed to being among the elite programs in the country, yet it struggled in games against Duke, Kansas, Maryland and Wisconsin in the regular season. The Spartans seem to have figured something out at just the right time. 

When it seemed like Michigan State was going to lose, it was largely due to the performance of everyone not named Travis Trice and Branden Dawson, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Even though this is classified as an upset because Maryland is ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, Izzo has a habit of saving his best for tournament time. This was just one of those weird years when the Spartans didn't get a signature win, so you tend to forget about them.

Yet as Chris Solari of the Lansing State Journal noted on Twitter, the Spartans have a .699 winning percentage in March over the last 16 years:

Trice led the offensive charge for Michigan State with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, also adding four assists and three rebounds. The senior guard had a dreadful regular season, shooting 38.9 percent, but he has shot over 50 percent twice in the last four games. 

As Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports wrote, if Trice can keep shooting like he did against Maryland, the Spartans will be dangerous:

Melo Trimble was the only source of offense for the Terps, scoring a game-high 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting. The only other Maryland player to reach double figures in points was Dez Wells (10 points), and the bench only contributed nine points, all from Evan Smotrycz.

However, as noted by Adam Zagoria of NBA.com, most of Trimble's points came early, when Michigan State was struggling to score:

As far as what this contest means for both Michigan State and Maryland heading into the NCAA tournament, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had the Terps as the No. 3 seed in the South Region and the Spartans as the No. 6 in the West Region in his updated projection before this game. 

Maryland doesn't seem likely to move down that line, barring any huge upsets between now and Sunday. Michigan State has a golden opportunity to rise at least one line because of this signature win and the potential for a victory over Wisconsin.

For the record, Lunardi has Wisconsin on the No. 1 line in the West Region thanks to the Badgers winning and other contenders for a top seed like Duke and Virginia losing in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.

Even though Michigan State and Wisconsin are assured of an NCAA tournament berth, there's a lot at stake in Sunday's championship game, which will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET in Chicago. The Badgers could secure a No. 1 seed with a win, while the Spartans could get bumped into an easier matchup with a victory.

Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com reported more on what the Big Ten matchup looks like:

The madness of March truly is upon us.