EAST LANSING — They aren’t the team they thought they’d be. That’s been obvious for a while. For reasons well-documented — injuries, personal tragedy — and for reasons getting easier to see, a pattern has emerged for these Michigan State Spartans: When it comes time to win, it’s the other team that too often makes the play. Or plays. As Maryland did Saturday evening at Breslin Center, when the first-place Terrapins made four consecutive three-pointers in the last three minutes of the game to win, 67-60, stealing the game and ending MSU’s Big Ten title hopes. It was a stunning end to an uneven game, where the Spartans spent most of it clawing from a deficit — they fell behind by 15 late in the first half. Then they began to take control with a late-game run, pushing their lead to seven. Then didn’t score again. The margin for error isn’t there for this team, and while the best players match up with anyone — Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman, Rocket Watts, Aaron Henry — it’s rare that all four play well at the same time. Yet they have to, because this isn’t Tom Izzo’s deepest team, and when they don’t, they fall behind, as they did against ninth-ranked Maryland, turning another game into a psychological grind. Even when they find a flow, it rarely lasts. If it feels heavy, it's because it is. Part of this is the heavy heart Winston plays with — he looked worn out at the end of the game. Part of it is youth and a team still searching for itself, which is why it shows only bursts of electricity. The Spartans had one of those at the beginning of the game, buoyed by a rabid crowd and the 2000 national title team in the building. It was almost too much energy to start, as at least five of their first eight shots dropped halfway in before popping out. The missed shots led to missed assignments defensively, and once the Terrapins started making open shots, they started making everything. When they weren’t shooting jumpers, they were attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line or crashing the boards and grabbing offensive rebounds. In short, they were playing a lot like MSU would like to play. Or used to play. How many times this season have you heard Izzo say that about an opponent? Heard him admire another team’s toughness and physicality? This isn’t his beefiest team, but it’s a skilled team, a team that’s been through some things, and it’s slowly building a kind of mental resolve. It’s just not all the way there yet. A missed lay-up here. A turnover there. An ill-timed three-point attempt. A difficult pass. The wrong decision at the wrong time. In most of these losses – nine so far -- it’s the other team making the play, or the shot. Or a series of shots, as Maryland did in the last few minutes. Four straight threes. Four misses by MSU. From a seven-point lead to a five-point deficit, the Big Ten season disappeared, and the Terrapins walked out of Breslin Center entrenched in first place, three games clear of MSU – the Spartans have five games lost. Where do they go from here? To Nebraska, next week. But, really, they must go inward, again, and try to find a few more moments of resolve, of will, of relentlessness. It’s not that they aren’t trying, it’s that they aren’t able to exert their will in the moments that swing a game. The pattern is unmistakable. Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.