Michigan State finally returned to the court Thursday after a delayed pause due to COVID-19, but that game was less than optimal for the Spartans.

Hitting the road to take on Rutgers, the Spartans put together one of their worst performances in recent history. The Scarlet Knights forced the Spartans to shoot just 28.6% from the field and forced Michigan State into 21 turnovers.

The inept performance finished with the Spartans scoring just 37 points in the game. With Rutgers scoring 67 points, that made the 30-point loss the worst defeat for Michigan State since 2008:

The star for Rutgers was center Myles Johnson with the center putting up an impressive showing with his latest double-double. Johnson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds to go with five blocks in the big win.

Rutgers’ huge win also goes down as the first all-time for the Scarlet Knights against Michigan State. Rutgers was 0-11 against the Spartans before Thursday’s blowout, including a 68-45 defeat earlier in the season.

The win for the Scarlet Knights moved them to 5-6 in conference play, squarely in the middle of the pack for the B1G race this season.

On the other side of the ball, Tom Izzo’s squad fell to 2-5 in the conference after a 6-0 start to the season. While the long layoff may draw some attention, the Spartans were already struggling before the break after blowing a huge second-half lead in the loss to Purdue.

Moving forward, the pressure is on Michigan State to put enough wins together to finish the season to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. With games against Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan remaining, the opportunities still exist, but it will not be an easy stretch for Izzo and company.