EAST LANSING – Forget the impressive four-game streak and Saturday’s strong finish against Indiana State.

Michigan State basketball enters 2024 winless.

Because none of those nonconference games will matter until March, and only in a computational matter for NCAA tournament seeding. Not the impressive 87-75 pull-away from the Sycamores, the thumping of Baylor earlier this month or anything else other than two games.

Wisconsin, L. Nebraska, L.

Big Ten play resumes Thursday, with MSU hosting Penn State at 7 p.m. in a game that only will air on streaming service Peacock. It is the beginning of the 18-game, 2 1/2-month grind of chasing a conference championship that coach Tom Izzo puts a premium on – only his team already is two games in the hole.

GAME STORY: Michigan State basketball eventually overwhelms Indiana State, 87-75, at home

“I’ll just probably sleep in and relax because now all we do is go into the Big Ten,” Izzo said facetiously after beating an Indiana State team that entered 11-1. “We’ve had a hell of a schedule, guys. … We’ve played a lot of good teams.”

The Spartans (8-5) are off to an 0-2 start in the league for just the sixth time in Izzo’s 29 seasons and the first since dropping the first three Big Ten games of 2020-21. That was Izzo’s second time opening 0-3 in the conference, his worst start.

Yet MSU’s 77-70 loss at Nebraska on Dec. 10 and 70-57 home loss to Wisconsin five days prior feels like a lifetime ago in many ways.

The Spartans have averaged 88.25 points in their past four games while giving up just 64 a game. They rebounded from the stunning loss in Lincoln with a thorough thrashing of then-No. 6 Baylor to rediscover some mojo. MSU beat Oakland and Stony Brook handily before clawing its way back against a pesky Indiana State squad Saturday the Spartans believe will help prepare them for what’s to come against the rest of the Big Ten.

“It was definitely physical,” said senior guard Tyson Walker, who scored 22 points despite battling nagging injuries and getting bumped, pushed, and shoved around all afternoon.

Izzo’s roster also will look different than it did a month ago at the outset of Big Ten play. Freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is out indefinitely after being shot Dec. 23. However, on a much more positive note, Izzo said sophomore forward Jaxon Kohler is nearing a return to practice this week and could provide a boost to MSU’s interior scoring once he’s back up to speed.

Izzo is also getting markedly better play from A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins since those early Big Ten defeats to complement what Walker has been doing and alleviate some of the burden on the senior shooting guard.

Senior point guard Hoggard has scored in double figures for 10 straight games, but his play has been significantly steadier and his improvement in pushing the pace has allowed the Spartans to get out in transition more frequently since the win over Baylor. Junior wing Akins has made 45.5% of his 3-point attempts since the two Big Ten losses, and he is scoring 12.8 points in the past four games.

Hoggard and Akins combined for 30 points, four assists, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks against the Sycamores.

“(Hoggard) has been so good the last six, seven, eight games. I’m really proud of him,” Izzo said. “Tyson has played a little bit banged up – he gets banged up because he’s a little guy who takes it in there. But Jaden Akins has been one of my most improved players, I’d say since maybe the Wisconsin game. He’s shooting the ball better.”

MORE ON AKINS: Jaden Akins' outside shooting returning to form

The Nittany Lions (7-6, 1-1), who are coming off a 90-63 blowout of Rider, beat Ohio State at home Dec. 9, three days after falling 81-75 in overtime at Maryland. And Thursday’s resumption of conference competition is followed by a two-game road swing at Northwestern next Sunday and at Illinois on Jan. 11. MSU also has a second back-to-back road trip later in the month on Jan. 21 at Maryland and a Jan. 26 rematch against the Badgers in Madison.

Yet Izzo and the Spartans enter the new year with reclaimed momentum and a renewed focus from a team that, not even a month ago, watched its record dip below .500.

“Are we battle-tested? I don’t know,” Izzo said. “I know one thing – we’ve played against a lot of different kinds of ball.”

Now, the team can look forward to much more familiarity for the next 18 games, for better and for worse.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.           

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball resumes Big Ten play riding wave of momentum