Michigan State defense dominates Hoosiers

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Through the first half Sunday at the Breslin Center, it looked as if the Hoosiers had found a way to get past Tom Izzo and Michigan State's trademark defense. Similar to how IU cut through the Spartans at Assembly Hall Jan. 8, the Hoosiers built a large first-half lead behind good shooting.\nBut by the time the second half came, Michigan State figured out the IU offense, and with Marcus Taylor leading the way, the Spartans slipped past the No. 23 Hoosiers 57-54.\nIn the first meeting between the two teams this season, IU hit 14 of 26 three pointers. Junior point guard Tom Coverdale hit 6 of 8 from three-point range in the first half alone, and the Hoosiers coasted to an 83-65 victory. Sunday, the game started down that same road as IU jumped to a 28-12 lead 13 minutes into the game by hitting six of its first 10 three pointers.\n"I thought I was back in Bloomington," Izzo said. "Those were solid (shots). We made some mistakes and didn't do some things right."\nIzzo said sophomore Jared Jeffries' ability to pass out of double teams helped the Hoosiers (18-9, 10-4 Big Ten) find open shots on several occasions. IU led the Spartans (17-10, 8-6) at the half, 32-25, shooting better than 46 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.\nComing into the game, Michigan State was eighth in the nation in field-goal defense, holding teams to 38.4 percent from the field -- the Spartans' best defense in more than 40 years.\nAfter halftime, Michigan State got back to playing its game.\n"We just decided to play defense," Taylor said. "In the first half we let them get open shots, and they had a lot of offensive rebounds. We had to cut that out and get our fast break going because that's how we get our easy buckets."\nThe Hoosiers were not helped by Jeffries' absence for most of the later stages of the first half. Jeffries picked up his third foul with 8:20 left before the break, leaving the Spartans' defense free to extend on the perimeter shooters without having to worry about too much activity in the post.\nIU coach Mike Davis said the Hoosiers didn't miss Jeffries that much and said the poor shooting after the hot start was more because of Michigan State.\nWhen the Spartans did begin to play defense, Taylor came to life as well. Coverdale had done a good job of quieting Michigan State's leading scorer in the first half, playing good pressure defense on the perimeter and fighting through screens.\nAt halftime, Taylor had only five points, but then Izzo challenged him. \n"When they went up eight (in the second half), the guy I have to give the most credit to is Marcus Taylor," Izzo said. "I told him probably for the first time since I've had him, 'I recruited you to be a superstar. This is your chance.'"\nTaylor embraced the challenge, finishing with a game-high 16 points.\nWith the Spartans trailing 49-44 and 3:56 remaining, Taylor scored six straight points, all on shots of his own creation. He scored eight of Michigan State's final 13 points to end the game.\n"He made some great plays. That's why he's an All-American type player," Izzo said. "Marcus took over like great players can and should."\nTaylor also had eight assists, including a big one to Adam Ballinger on Ballinger's three pointer that tied the game at 54 with just under a minute left. The Spartans committed seven turnovers in the game. Running the point for 36 minutes, Taylor, a sophomore, committed none.\n"I just wanted to come in and run the team as best I could down the stretch," Taylor said. "Whenever I saw an open guy I just wanted to hit him. I did that in the second half."\nAs Taylor warmed up, so did the rest of Michigan State's offense. After hitting just 10-of-32 shots from the field in the first half, the Spartans connected on 11 of their 22 field goal attempts after the break. For the game, Michigan State shot just under 39 percent from the floor.\nMeanwhile, IU was going in the opposite direction, shooting 34 percent in the second half after shooting 46 percent from the field in the first half.\n"We made a lot of open shots at the beginning of the game, and they tightened up their defense," junior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "They played a lot better defensively after the first 10 or 15 minutes."\nWith not enough offense and a defense that couldn't contain Taylor in the second half, the Hoosiers dropped a critical game they had to have. The loss knocked IU back into a first-place tie with No. 19 Ohio State atop the Big Ten.\n"We had open threes in the first half, and they contested every shot (in the second half). They did a great job of stepping out," Davis said. "Every time we caught the basketball they had a guy on us. They made adjustments"