If you still had doubts that the Big Ten was a physical conference, the game at Assembly Hall between the Spartans and Hoosiers silenced any critics.
The problem is, the game also silenced the Spartans, too.
Coming off a lopsided 20+ point win over Nebraska on February 25th, Tom Izzo and his team were looking to score a road win against Izzo’s former assistant coach, Tom Crean, but the cream and crimson “Tom” got the better of his former boss. The victory was the Indiana head coach’s first over Michigan State and also placed Indiana in elite company; the Hoosiers became the second team to ever earn three victories over a top five opponent in a season.
How did this big “W” come about? Well, Indiana took a page out of the Spartans’ playbook. The young Hoosiers, questioned for being inconsistent this season, put on their “big boy pants” and outplayed a veteran MSU squad. IU’s Victor Oladipo drove by MSU defenders with ease, and Cody Zeller and his teammates were able to lock down the visiting team with good, solid defense. Christian Watford was able to record a career-high 14 rebounds against the Big Ten’s top rebounding team.
Michigan State was held to 39 percent shooting from the field for the game while the Hoosiers, on the other hand, shot 48 percent from the field and buried Michigan State in a seventeen point hole towards the end of the second half. Four of Indiana’s starters finished in double figures while MSU’s Draymond Green was the only Spartan to crack double-digits.
Green’s performance was the bright spot for the squad–he finished with 29 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The senior shot 50% from behind the arc in 36 minutes of play, and finished 6 of 7 from the free throw line–territory that was not good to MSU in this physical game. While both teams got to the charity stripe a good bit, the differential once there was large–MSU shot 59% from the line, while Indiana shot 86%. Like every good coach says, free throws win you games, or at least become the deciding factors in tight, physical games.
In this game, though, MSU had only one player really show up. Green’s monster night also highlighted the lack of contribution from other guys. While fellow senior Austin Thornton chipped in with 8 points, Keith Appling only added 6 points with 5 assists. At the half, Tom Izzo said that the sophomore point guard needed to be more aggressive, and that was just not the case.
The Spartans big men also disappointed. Adreian Payne played only 10 minutes and recorded only 2 points and 2 rebounds. Derrick Nix chipped in a 5 point, 4 rebound effort, but senior Brandon Wood tallied 7 boards. Wood is 6’2. Payne is 6’10 and Nix is 6’9. They will need to step up in Saturday’s home finale against the very hungry Ohio State Buckeyes. If the Spartans can protect their home court, they will also protect and pull an outright Big Ten conference crown out of this season.