Indiana men’s basketball collapsed in the second half in its contest against No. 10 Nebraska on Jan. 10.
The Hoosiers were looking for a bounce-back victory Tuesday in a venue they’ve won at just three times this century: the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Instead of responding with a win over No. 12 Michigan State, Indiana did the opposite.
The Hoosiers, again, crumbled in the second half. The Spartans went on a 28-2 run across eight and a half minutes to secure an 83-61 win over Indiana. Michigan State sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. led all scorers with 23 points, while fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson paced the Hoosiers with 19 points.
The two squads went back and forth to begin the game, while Indiana redshirt senior guard Conor Enright picked up a pair of early fouls. The Hoosiers eventually took a seven-point lead just under nine minutes into the first half, but the Spartans went on a 9-0 run just over four minutes later to take a four-point lead.
Michigan State led for the rest of the first half, heading into the locker room at halftime with a 39-32 advantage over Indiana. Fears scored 19 points in the opening half, while Wilkerson led the Hoosiers with eight.
Wilkerson knocked down a 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the second half as the Cream and Crimson aimed to trim their deficit. Indiana pulled within one point with just over 15 minutes left and eventually tied the contest twice with a 3-pointer and a dunk from Wilkerson.
But that’s when the Spartans took over.
Michigan State’s 28-2 run ended Indiana’s hope of earning a marquee victory in just its sixth conference clash under first-year head coach Darian DeVries.
The Hoosiers struggled with foul trouble, as senior forward Reed Bailey fouled out of the game with just under six minutes remaining in the game. Enright picked up his fifth foul 30 seconds later, joining Bailey on the bench. The former scored five points while the latter added six.
Indiana (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) now returns home to host Iowa — which is slated to face No. 5 Purdue on Wednesday in West Lafayette — on Saturday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The contest will begin at 2 p.m. and be broadcast on Fox.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
