Indiana men’s basketball is set to take on Michigan State on Sunday looking to prove itself a better team than it was in this past week’s loss to Northwestern.
The Hoosiers were teetering on entering the wrong side of the bubble conversation with blowout losses to Illinois and Purdue on the road before throwing themselves into that side with the loss to the Wildcats. There’s three opportunities ahead against a team battling for a top seed, a team out of the conversation with an early season win over
Indiana and a fellow bubble team.
That first team is Michigan State, which is coming off of a road win at Purdue, the same team and venue that vexed this Indiana team. Here’s five things to know about the Spartans:
- This is very much a Tom Izzo team, believe it or not. The Spartans play high-level defense, own the glass and perform well enough on offense to win games. Michigan State was able to beat Indiana down at home this season and will look to do the same in Assembly Hall.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. is the tip of the spear for Michigan State with the Spartans’ offense hinging on his playmaking ability. His 9.1 assists per game lead the nation and Michigan State is at its best when he combines that with finding his own looks. Indiana won’t be able to stop his passing but will need to let Conor Enright and Tayton Conerway play their respective brands of defense on him to give him a bit more to think about throughout the game.
- The Spartans have won three consecutive games with two victories over bubble teams in UCLA and Ohio State and the third over a fellow top seed in Purdue. They blew out the Bruins, staved off the Buckeyes and kept Purdue in check. Those wins over the bubble teams, like the prior win over Indiana, came at home. Michigan State has lost when it gets into foul trouble or lets a high-tempo opponent control the game, neither of which Indiana has proven capable of doing this season.
- Michigan State’s offensive rebounding numbers bode ill for Indiana. The Spartans rank 8th nationally in oreb% and 1st nationally in oreb% allowed. They get them and don’t let the other team do the same. Indiana hasn’t been able to compete on the glass enough in Big Ten play and Michigan State is gonna end up more shots as a result. Indiana has to be efficient to compete with that.
- The Spartans’ defense lets up a fair amount of 3s but not many of those shots find their mark. About 46.2% of opposing field goals come from beyond the 3-point line, of which 31.6% have gone in. Over half of Indiana’s shots have come from 3-point range, of which 34.9% have gone in. Again, with the rebounding disadvantage, Indiana’s going to need to hit the shots it gets it it wants a chance here.
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