Column: Hoosiers look to end 17-game losing streak at Michigan State

Feb. 28, 1991.

That is the last time an Indiana men’s basketball team has beaten the Michigan State Spartans on the road.

Since that 62-56 victory over the Spartans, IU has lost 17 games in a row in the Breslin Center, including Tom Crean’s first four trips to East Lansing, Mich., as head coach of the Hoosiers.

Things have changed over the last 22 years, but yet the Hoosiers have not been able to crack the code to success in the Breslin Center once since the days of Chalbert Cheaney.

Why must this change tonight for the Hoosiers?

In a battle of the two best teams in the Big Ten that also happen to be ranked No. 1 and No. 4 in the nation, two major outcomes ­— the Big Ten regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament — could be decided by who wins this game.

Entering the game, IU and MSU sit tied atop the Big Ten standings with identical 11-and-2 conference records.

If the Spartans continue their home dominance over the Hoosiers, MSU would take sole possession of first place in the conference with four games remaining for both teams.

Although IU could still win the conference, the Hoosiers would not control their own destiny to decide the Big Ten regular season champion.

On the other hand, if IU wins, the Hoosiers would effectively move two games ahead of MSU in the standings, because a sweep of the Spartans would give IU the tiebreaker in the event that both teams finished with the same record.

Here’s where the fast track to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament begins.

Whoever wins the Big Ten regular season title will probably earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament no matter how they fare in the Big Ten tournament — assuming that team doesn’t have a major meltdown in the first or second round of the Big Ten tournament.

The selection committee will factor in the results from the conference tournaments, but it would be hard for them to ignore the results of a large sample of games played against the best conference in the NCAA this year.

So what stands in IU’s way of claiming its first win in East Lansing since the early 90s?

You can start with the massive frontline of senior Derrick Nix and junior Adreian Payne that clogs the lane for the Spartans.

Nix and Payne made life in the post difficult for sophomore Cody Zeller and

senior Christian Watford.

Nix and Payne outscored Watford and Zeller 26-to-21 and outrebounded them 14-to-13.

Then, there’s that freshman from Fishers, Ind. ­— Gary Harris.

Harris was a thorn in the Hoosiers’ side in the first meeting with the Spartans this year.

In one of the most hostile Assembly Hall atmospheres of the season, the freshman remained cool, calm and collected throughout the game on his way to leading MSU with 21 points while shooting 5-of-10 from behind the arc.

“Gary Harris has been one of the best freshmen I’ve ever had because he does something that most don’t. He plays both ends of the court,” Tom Izzo said after IU’s 75-70 win over MSU on Jan. 27.

“We love Gary, and he raises his game in big situations. A two guard that can play both ends of the court doesn’t happen very often in college basketball,” Izzo added.

Besides Nix, Payne and Harris, the Hoosiers can expect all of MSU’s players to raise the level of their play for this year’s rematch because they will be much more comfortable in front of the home crowd.

This year, IU has done a great job of feeding off of the Assembly Hall crowd in big games, but the question is: can they do it on the road in front of the home team’s fans that will harass them non-stop for 40 minutes?

The Hoosiers might have answered this question two weekends ago with a victory at No. 10 Ohio, but the Big Ten is a league of “what have you done for me lately?”

Beating Michigan State in the Breslin Center is something the Hoosiers have not done in a long time.

Prediction:

A game as close as this one is usually won by the team that can get to the free throw line more often.

In their first meeting Jan. 27, the Hoosiers went 13-of-20 from the free throw line compared to Michigan State’s 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. As it turned out, IU won the game by five.

The team that can get to the line to convert more free throws is going to have the edge in this one, because it is also going to force the other team into foul trouble.

Nobody in the Big Ten is better at getting to the free throw line than Indiana, so I have to give the Hoosiers a slight edge.

Hoosiers win 72-70 to end their 17-game losing streak at the Breslin Center.