Just how big the void will be, though, is an open question. After all, the Spartans (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten) won their first seven games without Langford before falling at Purdue on Sunday.

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At times in January, it seemed as if the Spartans were eligible for a bonus for degree of difficulty. They won road games at Penn State and Nebraska without wing Kyle Ahrens (back) as well as Langford. They cruised to a 14-point victory over a then-sizzling Maryland team despite absorbing the first scoreless game of junior forward Nick Ward’s career.

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Sunday’s slip-up — which also came with Ahrens sidelined — was the first time Langford’s absence might have swung a result. Of course, Purdue (15-6, 8-2) is pretty good, too, and Mackey Arena is rarely an easy place for visitors.

All along, the Spartans hoped to get Langford back. Now that’s out of the question, and it places them in a small group: Serious national title contenders who have a long-term absence to account for.

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That’s not to say other presumptive top teams haven’t lost players this season. Gonzaga played without Killian Tillie for its entire nonconference schedule and Geno Crandall missed nine games. Duke point guard Tre Jones was out for two games and much of a third. Auburn’s Austin Wiley has missed the last four games but could be back Saturday.

Kentucky incurred a non-injury loss when Quade Green, its top reserve guard, opted to transfer in mid-December. That hasn’t proven to be a problem for the Wildcats; they’ve lost only once (at Alabama) without him.

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The one marquee team to suffer a severe injury earlier in the season than Michigan State was Kansas, which got only nine games from center Udoka Azubuike before he was sidelined with a wrist injury. Azubuike is out for the season, and the Jayhawks have split their eight games since learning he was done for the year.

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Michigan State has persevered much better, but there is a natural domino effect after removing a player who logged 28.4 minutes per game. When it’s also the Spartans’ No. 3 scorer and one of their top defenders, things get more complicated.

So how has Michigan State coped? It helps to have an all-American candidate at point guard. Cassius Winston is not only averaging 18.5 points and 7.3 assists, but his minutes average has ticked up to 34.8 since Langford left the lineup. Expect a similar workload for the junior in the second half of Big Ten play, which includes a trip to Wisconsin and a home-and-home with Michigan.

There’s been more responsibility for senior wing Matt McQuaid on the defensive end, and he has also seen a spike in minutes (from an average of 24.5 before Langford’s injury to 33 since). Some of that can be chalked up to the usual increase associated with playing more close games in conference play and eliminating garbage time for others.

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Keeping both Winston and McQuaid sharp will be priorities for Izzo, and it will help if Ahrens can return. But there’s also the matter of hoping results aren’t just masking problems that could become more glaring before the season is through.

Even though removing a shooter and defender of Langford’s ability should result in an obvious regression, it hasn’t happened much. The Spartans remain the most efficient offense in Big Ten play per KenPom.com (granted, two of those games were played before Langford’s injury), though their three-point shooting has sagged some during the conference schedule.

It’s a credit to Izzo’s roster construction that the Spartans have played more than a third of their schedule without one of their three best players and still are one of three teams (along with Duke and Virginia) to crack the top 10 on KenPom in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency.

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Consider the Spartans’ points per possession over their last eight games:

Date Date Opp. Off. PPP Def. PPP Result Jan. 27 Jan. 27 at Purdue 1.00 1.14 L, 73-63 Jan. 24 Jan. 24 at Iowa 1.22 0.99 W, 82-67 Jan. 21 Jan. 21 Maryland 1.13 0.92 W, 69-55 Jan. 17 Jan. 17 at Nebraska 1.08 0.93 W, 70-64 Jan. 13 Jan. 13 at Penn State 1.01 0.80 W, 71-56 Jan. 8 Jan. 8 Purdue 1.20 0.95 W, 77-59 Jan. 5 Jan. 5 at Ohio State 1.28 1.15 W, 86-77 Jan. 2 Jan. 2 Northwestern 1.19 0.80 W, 81-55

To have maintained that level at both ends of the floor for almost five weeks while navigating arguably the nation’s deepest league is noteworthy. Doing it just as effectively for another two months and delving far into the postseason would be especially impressive.

Playing without Langford shouldn’t be easy for Michigan State, and it probably isn’t. The Spartans have just made it look that way at times.