MSU in key challenge for tourneys
Spartans need win for Big Ten seedings, NCAA chances
Michigan State’s NCAA tournament hopes teetered toward disappearing 10 minutes into its game at Indiana less than two weeks ago.
Then Tom Izzo discovered a smaller lineup that clicked, and the Spartans changed their trajectory.
Or so they hope.
When the Hoosiers make the return visit
Tuesday to East Lansing, it might be the most pivotal game of the season for both teams. Both jockeying for position in next week’s Big Ten tournament, each trying to make their case for one of the last NCAA at-large berths.
“We have to keep that even keeled attitude and knowing that anybody can beat us and anybody can be beat on any given day,” junior Aaron Henry said after Sunday’s 73-55 loss at Maryland snapped MSU’s three-game win streak. “The Big Ten is too good to go in anywhere and just think you're gonna walk in and put your shoes on and beat anybody. So we have to approach every day with that mindset and try to win the day.”
What’s at stake
MSU had lost six of its previous eight games when it fell behind 19-6 less than 9 minutes into its Feb. 20 game at Indiana. Another loss at that point would have crippled the Spartans.
That’s the point when Izzo shifted Henry to power forward, inserted Gabe Brown on the wing and experimented with Joshua Langford running the offense. MSU recovered to overtake the Hoosiers, outscoring them, 52-41, in the second half for a 78-71 victory.
The jolt inspired the Spartans to home upsets of No. 4 Illinois last Tuesday and No. 10 Ohio State on Thursday.
Some of that dissolved in Sunday’s 73-55 loss at Maryland, MSU’s worst offensive output since scoring 37 in a 30-point loss at Rutgers coming of a 20-day COVID-19 layoff on Jan. 28. The Spartans’ shots fell short against the Terrapins, and they looked sluggish at times defensively.
But the Indiana game looks to be the one game MSU can’t afford to lose.
The Hoosiers moved up two spots Monday to No. 57 in the NCAA NET Rankings after their 73-57 home loss to No. 3 Michigan on Saturday , while the Spartans dropped nine spots to No. 77 after its Quad 1 loss at Maryland, which is No. 29. That would make Tuesday’s game a Quad 2 game for both teams.
Izzo said he is “a little upset about the NET thing” because it takes into account margin of wins and losses without context.
“So instead of beating Notre Dame by 28, we beat them by 10 because I put subs in,” he said. “I thought we got rid of that crap back in football when Oklahoma was beating people 88-0. … I think we're as good as a lot of teams. I don't think we're a lot better than some teams. I think we dug ourselves a hole.”
CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm has the Spartans in his bracket as an 11-seed and not as one of the final four teams in the field. Indiana is not in his bracket or among his final teams out of the 68-team field. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has both the Spartans and Hoosiers among his first four teams out of the field along with Duke and Utah State.
Complementary roles
While Henry and Langford have become the focal points of MSU’s offense, the Spartans continue to get improving performances from others.
Brown played a career-high 39 minutes, scoring seven points with six rebounds against the Terps. In his last six games, the 6foot-8 junior has made 21 of 43 shots, including half of his 26 3-point attempts to average 9.7 points in those games.
Joey Hauser and Malik Hall became the latest additions to Izzo’s shift to smaller lineups, moving into the center role for long stretches based on the matchup against the athletic Maryland post players. Hauser scored 11 points and made three 3-pointers in 26 minutes, and the 6-9 junior has made 10 of 16 shots and 6 of 11 from behind the arc over his past three games. Hall scored seven points with three rebounds after a late spark against Ohio State, the 23 minutes he logged against the Terps his most in nearly a month.
Henry tied a career-high with 27 points in the last meeting at Indiana, his first victory in his home state in six tries. Langford, the Spartans’ lone senior, had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Both, however, struggled against the Terrapins — combining to go just 7 of 29 shooting for 23 points between them.
Indiana update
The loss to the Spartans started the Hoosiers on a three-game losing streak, and they have dropped four of their last five coming into East Lansing.
Sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored a career-high 34 against MSU in the first meeting, leads Indiana with 19.8 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 52.1%.
Sophomore guard Armaan Franklin and senior guard Aljami Durham each average 11.6 points. The Hoosiers’ 57 points against Michigan were their fewest in Big Ten play this season, and they are averaging just 62.5 in their most recent four losses.
Indiana won its last trip to Breslin, 79-75 in overtime, during the Spartans’ 2019 Big Ten title and Final Four season.