Indiana’s NCAA Tournament hopes are on life support.
The Hoosiers never led Sunday on their home floor, falling behind by nine just over five minutes into the game, and 13 just over 10 minutes in. From there it was a Sisyphean effort to overcome the early deficit. IU would cut the margin to seven late in the first half, and five on two occasions in the second. Each time MSU responded with a three, and they took control in the final 10 minutes.
Let’s take a deeper look at how Indiana lost 77-64 in Bloomington with our latest edition of The Report Card.
The Hoosiers (17-12, 8-10) will host Minnesota on Wednesday.
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OFFENSE (C)
Against one of the better defenses in the country, IU was bound to struggle at times — and they did.
Michigan State was able to keep Indiana out of the paint on drives and that led to stagnant offense. The Hoosiers started the game just 3 of 15 from the field. Once again, a primary obstacle for IU was a switching defense that nullified much of what Indiana was trying to accomplish. They passed the ball around the perimeter but weren’t able to create good looks.
“I didn’t think our offense got nearly enough movement,” IU coach Darian DeVries said. “I thought we had a lot of late clock with no movement, not enough action there for us. That’s certainly a reason why I don’t think our offense was as good.”
The Hoosiers didn’t turn the ball over. They gave it away just seven times. But they didn’t capitalize on possessions, making just 39.3% of their shots overall, including just 28.6% from three. And they got to free throw line for just 13 attempts, including just two in the second half.
IU only had eight assists for the entire game. MSU made IU win on dribble drives, and only Lamar Wilkerson was able to get that done.
DEFENSE (D+)
As has been the case for most of the Big Ten season, Indiana’s defense wasn’t nearly good enough, particularly in the first half. For the game IU allowed 1.28 points per possession, the third-most allowed in any game this season. In the first half MSU shot 58.3% from the field and turned it over just three times. IU did a respectable job limiting Michigan State’s transition game, but had few answers for their high-low game and kick-outs for three.
IU dabbled with a zone defense and their defensive efficiency improved as the game wore on. But while things got better after the break, Indiana’s familiar troubles resurfaced.
Indiana held MSU to one first half offensive rebound, but allowed nine after the break. The Spartans turned those offensive rebounds into 12 second chance points, making it nearly impossible for IU to come back.
“I thought our first shot defense was really good in the second half. Then they got nine offensive rebounds in the second half, which were just killers for us because we had opportunities there,” DeVries said.
Indiana’s biggest challenge was guarding the 3-point arc, where MSU made 12 of 24 for the game, including several backbreakers as the Hoosiers appeared to be mounting rallies. On eight different occasions after IU was back to within single digits, MSU made a three.
SEE ALSO:
- IU men’s basketball lets another Quad 1 opportunity go to waste against Michigan State
- Watch: Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo discusses win over Indiana basketball
- Watch: Darian and Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson discuss loss to Michigan State
- IU basketball: Indiana 64 Michigan State 77 — Three keys, highlights, final stats
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Tucker DeVries (B-) It wasn’t DeVries’ most efficient game, but he did make plenty of shots, rebounded, and had some steals. There’s no doubting the effort, but without making threes at a high rate, DeVries overall impact was somewhat marginalized.
*Lamar Wilkerson (A-) Wilkerson was unstoppable in the second half, with 19 points. After the break he made three 3-pointers and 5 of 6 shots from two. Twice he hit threes to cut the lead to five in the second half.
*Sam Alexis (C+) While dealing with foul trouble, Alexis had some nice backdowns in the post for scores and had some passes out of the post for scores too. This game needed to be his best rebounding effort, and it wasn’t to that level.
*Conor Enright (D) Enright struggled to connect from three, and he struggled to get the offense moving for his teammates. On the other end Jeremy Fears had no trouble facilitating the MSU offense with nine assists.
*Nick Dorn (D) Dorn looked like he might have one of those games with an early three, but that was it. He appeared to be a hair late on several closeouts to Michigan State shooters.
Tayton Conerway (D) Conerway was the mystery man in this game. After respectable performances in his last two games, he played just seven minutes and posted zeroes across the entire box score.
Jasai Miles (C+) Miles rebounded the way you have to against Michigan State, with six in 18 minutes. Indiana likes his perimeter defense. But, he’s not proving to be much of a threat on the offensive end.
Reed Bailey (D) Bailey had a steal and a block in eight minutes, but he also turned it over and had no points or rebounds as he continues to struggle to make an impact against length and physicality.
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Trent Sisley, Aleksa Ristic and Andrej Acimovic did not play — coaches decision.
Jason Drake and Josh Harris were out with injuries.
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