Written by: TJ Inman
Any flickering hope the Indiana Hoosiers had of reaching the NCAA Tournament likely required a victory over Michigan State at Assembly Hall. The Spartans came in playing well after winning at Purdue and led from the opening tip to the final buzzer, closing a regular season sweep of Darian DeVries’ team and all but ending IU’s realistic hopes of making the Big Dance.
Indiana got 29 points from Lamar Wilkerson and a valiant effort from Tucker DeVries (20 and 6) but the #13 Spartans got a career-high 18 points off the bench from Kaur Teng and shot 12-24 from beyond the arc as they answered every challenge from the Hoosiers. Michigan State is the third-best rebounding team in the country but IU was actually ahead on the glass at halftime. That changed in the second half and IU’s superior size and strength wore down the home team and resulted in 12 second-chance points.
Just 12 seconds into the contest, Sam Alexis was whistled for a foul and Jaxon Kohler sank a pair of free throws. Indiana is already limited on the interior and an early foul on the one reliable big man is the exact opposite of what Darian DeVries would draw up. The Spartans jumped out to a 14-5 lead as the Hoosiers started the game ice cold from the perimeter and with no “plan B” when the three-pointers were not falling. Kohler dominated early and Michigan State was extremely comfortable on offense while IU was getting good looks but failing to convert.
The Hoosiers did just enough to keep the deficit around ten points before Conor Enright hit an open three and sliced the deficit to seven but the momentum was short-lived as Sam Alexis was sent to the bench with his third foul. Reed Bailey was promptly called for a travel, gave up an offensive rebound and then was called for a foul as he gave up a three-point play to Coen Carr. Michigan State led 45-37 at the half and were in position to run away with another 24th victory of the season.
IU got three straight defensive stops to begin the second half but only cut the lead by one point as Conor Enright missed an open corner three, Sam Alexis missed a free throw and Nick Dorn missed a layup before Jaxon Kohler splashed another three to extend the lead back to ten points. Lamar Wilkerson found his footing in the second half and kept IU within shouting distance but the closest IU would get was five points at 60-55.
Again, MSU had a quick answer as the Spartans hit a three-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run to push the advantage back to 12 points. That was the last gasp for Indiana and they fell 77-64. Wilkerson had 29 but took 21 shots and Tucker DeVries had 20 points but Indiana got zero bench points and only shot 10-35 from three.
The Hoosiers now take on Minnesota before ending the regular season at Ohio State. Winning both of those games would give Indiana an outside shot at an at-large bid but would still leave them work to do at the Big Ten Tournament. For all intents and purposes, it appears once again that IU fans have nothing beyond the transfer portal to look forward to this March and April.