Hoosiers downed again

EAST LANSING, Mich. – A team as young as IU can be expected to lose its poise at times throughout the season. But on Saturday it was one of the more experienced Hoosiers who couldn’t control his temper.

IU junior Devan Dumes was ejected late in the second half after receiving a flagrant foul for throwing an elbow toward a handful of Michigan State players in IU’s 75-47 loss.

The ejection capped off a miserable day for Dumes, who finished the game with five points.

IU coach Tom Crean suspended Dumes indefinitely for his actions in the game.
Crean worried about Michigan State’s fast break offense and the potential of his team falling behind early in front of a hostile crowd. 

The Hoosiers limited Michigan State to just three fast break points and held their ground at the start of both halves.

But in the end, the IU offense came up flat.

IU (6-16, 1-9) stayed close early, limiting Michigan State to 39.4 percent shooting at the half. In addition to its defense, IU got to the free-throw line 15 times and hit 12 in the first half to negate a 30 percent field goal percentage.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo credited IU for constantly changing defenses – something Izzo believed threw off the flow of his team early.

“Indiana did a great job coming out with a different defense,” Izzo said. “They switched everything. I thought it gave us a little bit of problems.”

Trailing by seven at the start of the second half, the Hoosiers cut the deficit to three at 18:58. But the Spartans responded by going on a 13-1 run to put the game out of reach.

The combination of the conference-leading Spartans (19-4, 9-2) finding their collective shot and the Hoosiers never having theirs turned the game into a blowout, as IU could muster only 21 second-half points.

Freshman Tom Pritchard said his team wasn’t assertive enough trying to combat the stingy Spartan defense.

“I don’t think they did anything special except for just pressure, and we had to come out and be more aggressive,” Pritchard said. “That’s something we’ve got to work on.”

The only real drama in the second half came courtesy of Dumes, who got away with elbowing twice before being ejected. The off night for Dumes is just one game after he set a career high with 27 points against Iowa.

Despite the final score, Jones said the Hoosiers can take the competitive first half as evidence of their potential.

“We got to tie 40 minutes together,” Jones said. “And if we do that I think we can beat any team in the country.”