• What: Michigan State vs. Indiana• When: 9 p.m. Tuesday• Where: Breslin Center• TV/Radio: Streaming on Peacock/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 85 (MSU broadcast), 384 (Indiana broadcast)• Records/Rankings: MSU is 19-4 overall, 10-2 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 9 in both the Coaches Poll and in The […]
• What: Michigan State vs. Indiana• When: 9 p.m. Tuesday• Where: Breslin Center• TV/Radio: Streaming on Peacock/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 85 (MSU broadcast), 384 (Indiana broadcast)• Records/Rankings: MSU is 19-4 overall, 10-2 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 9 in both the Coaches Poll and in The Associated Press Poll, and is No. 17 per the college basketball analytics site Kenpom.com and No. 19 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Indiana is 14-10 overall, 5-8 in the Big Ten and unranked in the polls. The Hoosiers are No. 55 nationally, per Kenpom, and 61 in the NET rankings.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
• Series: Indiana leads 73-59 all-time. The Hoosiers won the only meeting last season, in March at Assembly Hall.
• Make it: MSU 81, Indiana 73
RELATED:Saturday felt like the end, not just for Mike Woodson but for an era of Indiana basketballG (3) Jaden Akins (6-4) 13.4C (11) Oumar Ballo (7-0) 13.7• Indiana update: The Hoosiers have lost five straight and seven of their last eight, though some of their recent results have been competitive, telling of a team that hasn’t quit. They lost 70-67 at home against Michigan on Saturday and lost 81-76 at Purdue a week earlier. Along with MSU, those are the two other teams atop the Big Ten standings. Also in that Indiana losing streak is a one-point loss to a Maryland team that’s in the top 20 in Kenpom. Still, it’s been a tumultuous season for the Hoosiers, one of underachieving, given the talent on the roster, which was thought to be one of the more expensive rosters in the sport. The school announced Friday that fourth-year head coach Mike Woodson won’t return next season.MSU
F (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 7.7Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.F (21) Mackenzie Mgbako (6-9) 13.3• MSU update: Tom Izzo said Monday that MSU is getting healthier and he hopes he’ll have a complete roster for Tuesday night’s game. Point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. missed Saturday’s game with an illness and forward Xavier Booker sat out after being sick during the week. Jaden Akins is the only player Izzo mentioned Monday as still recovering from whatever bug is making its way through the team. Akins, who played Saturday despite feeling poorly, did not take part in Sunday’s workout. If MSU beats Indiana, Izzo will pass former Indiana coach Bob Knight for the most Big Ten wins by a coach. Izzo tied Knight on Saturday with his 353rd win. The Spartans have 10 Big Ten wins this season and, at 10-2, are tied in the loss column with Purdue (11-2) and Michigan (10-2) atop the league standings, with UCLA and Wisconsin next, both at 9-4.Projected lineups
F (5) Malik Reneau (6-9) 12.3IndianaPG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) 7.7• Prediction: Indiana has a lot of talent — including Ballo, the sort of high-priced center many wanted Izzo to chase in the transfer portal in the offseason. MSU has been better off with Zapala and Co., including Jaxon Kohler, who it wouldn’t have been wise to recruit over. But on a given night, Ballo can still be a force and Indiana’s size a challenge. My question is what the Hoosiers get out of their guards, which hasn’t been great lately. The vibes with MSU are considerably better. The basketball’s been better, too, in terms of consistency, fit, effort and coaching. Assuming MSU is 100% healthy and nobody else comes down with the bug the Spartans brought back from Los Angeles …The timing for MSU could be better in that regard. Reneau, who gave the Spartans fits last season, finally looked like himself over the weekend after recently coming back from a knee injury he suffered at the beginning of January. Ballo is also a load, though his effort ebbs and flows and he’s not a good free-throw shooter. Mgbako has been Indiana’s most consistent player of late, with 15 points and nine rebounds against Michigan and 25 points against Purdue. He’s a good scorer on the drive and a pretty good spot-up shooter, making 34% of his 3-point shots, second-best on the team, behind only Illinois transfer Luke Goode. That should tell you something about this team’s deficiencies. It’s a talented roster, but a poorly constructed one in some ways, including one that doesn’t have close to enough shooting. Unlike MSU, that was apparent in October.
G (5) Tre Holloman (6-2) 8.2G (3) Anthony Leal (6-5) 3.1G (1) Myles Rice (6-3) 11.1
C (10) Szymon Zapala (7-0) 5.3• Matchup analysis: Last season, MSU couldn’t handle Indiana’s size. That was overly apparent in the only meeting between the two teams, early last March in Bloomington. The Hoosiers’ roster has changed to some degree, but they’re still big on the front line — with 7-foot Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo, 6-9 junior Malik Reneau power forward and 6-9 wing Mackenzie Mgbako. This will be test of MSU’s fortified roster in that area — adding 7-footer Szymon Zapala and 6-7 wing Frankie Fidler, along with the development of MSU’s other big men and forward Coen Carr.
MORE: Couch: Inside Jase Richardson’s road from career-threatening surgery to MSU basketball revelation• Coaches: Michigan State — Tom Izzo is 726-299 in his 30th season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. Indiana — Mike Woodson is 77-50 in his fourth season as an NCAA Division I head coach, all with the Hoosiers. It’s been announced that he won’t return next season. He previously was the head coach of the NBA’s New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.• Betting line: MSU -11RELATED:Couch: Tom Izzo’s first win over Bob Knight, 29 years ago, was a defining moment for MSU’s basketball program
