Columbus, Ohio - On Friday night, Michigan State found a way to get a coveted road victory versus Ohio State. This type of Big Ten win does not come easy (just ask last year’s team) and head coach Tom Izzo knows this all too well.

“There is no question we lose a game like this last year," he said after the game. “(This year), maybe it's maturity, maybe it’s guys rallying together, maybe the coaches are doing a better job.”

Perhaps it's a combination of all of the above.

Last year, MSU lacked the ability to consistently rally after an opponent punched back. Last year, Izzo seemed to still be figuring where to fit all the pieces, even late into the season.

Maturity is a nice way to characterize a team, but how does that manifest itself on the court?

"I see the huddles were good, guys are encouraging guys," said Izzo. "I see different players stepping up.”

This year’s team has just felt different. Now winners of seven straight and sitting at 3-0 in Big Ten play (with two conference road wins), Michigan State has shown that this maturity can be the difference in losing via a buzzer beater at home - like they did last year versus Ohio State - and winning on the road as an underdog like they did this year.

In Friday night's contest, Michigan State had several players step up, leading to the 69-62 victory.

Izzo's first praise went to his point guard.

“Jeremy Fears did an unbelievable job running my team and guarding," said Izzo.

Fears' presence on the court was vital throughout the game. Not only did the Spartan offense run more smoothly with Fears on the court, but his defense on the Buckeyes' leading scorer - Bruce Thornton (17.4 PPG) - was perhaps the most important performance of the night.

Thornton was coming off of back-to-back 30-point performances and the Spartans held him to just 10 points on 3-9 shooting from the field and 0-3 shooting from behind the three-point arc.

“You guard him well and pray he doesn’t make shots," Izzo said dryly.

The effort against Thornton however went far beyond blind prayers. Michigan State guards were consistently staying in front of Thronton, preventing him from going into the lane, and making sure every shot he put up was contested.

“I think it was by committee, we were switching everybody on him," Izzo said.

Fears and his teammates were able to consistently switch onto Thornton and thus keep their defensive attention on him fresh, preventing the junior guard from ever getting in a rhythm.

Outside of Fears and the other guards suffocating Thornton, Izzo noted Szymon Zapala was another important piece in securing an important conference win.

“Szymon’s our eighth different leading scorer," said Izzo. "[He] really played well early.”

It wasn’t just early that Zapala was impacting the game as he scored the Spartans first three buckets of the second half as well, helping the Spartans build a 14-point lead.