By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports
The #11 Excel H Sports Ranked Michigan State Spartans handled the Indiana Hoosiers 81-60 Tuesday Night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State outscored Indiana 42-28 in the second half and was sparked by a 28-2 run that put away the Hoosiers. Michigan State is 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten while Indiana drops to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten and will host Iowa Saturday afternoon at 2 PM at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Jeremy Fears Jr. led the Spartans with 23 points and including 19 in the first half along with 10 assists. Jaxon Kohler added 19 along with 10 rebounds. Michigan State got 11 points apiece from Kur Teng and Jordan Scott. Michigan State shot 51% from the field making 27 of their 53 shots. The Spartans were 8-30 from three-point range and 19-24 from the free throw line for 79%. The Spartans pulled down 37 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks and 15 turnovers. High flying Coen Carr had six points but his highlight reel dunk in transition with 10:06 left capped off a 7-0 Spartans run that led to a Hoosier timeout.
The Spartans had 32 points in the paint, 29 points off turnovers, 27 bench points, 25 fastbreak points and 11 second chance points. Michigan State was scoreless for the final 2:35 of the game but it didn’t matter at the point with the big second half run that sent the Izzone Student Section and the Breslin Center crowd into a frenzy.
Lamar Wilkerson was the only Hoosier in double figures with 19 points and drilled five three pointers. Tucker DeVries added 9 points. Indiana finished the game 21-49 from the field for 43%, 10-31 from three-point range for 32% from three-point range and 8-11 from the free throw line for 72%. Indiana pulled down 19 rebounds, 17 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks and 14 turnovers.
The Hoosiers scored 23 points off turnovers, 22 points in the paint, 15 bench points, 12 fastbreak points and 5 second chance points. Indiana has lost two straight games and after giving up 53 points to Nebraska in the second half this time a big run by Michigan State dooms the Hoosiers. Indiana is 23-42 all time in East Lansing as the Spartans snap a two-game losing streak to the Hoosiers. Indiana leads the all-time series 74-59.
Michigan State is too good when it comes to transition basketball and even though Carr was held in check, he still gave the home crowd a highlight reel dunk in the second half that was a momentum boost. Fears Jr. scored the first 10 points of the game for Michigan State as the Spartans led 39-32 at halftime. Indiana has to figure out how to play a complete 40 minutes and not allow a big run like they gave up against the Spartans in a very tough place to play.
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