When Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo sat in the visiting press room March 10 last year in the bowels of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, he said it was a “joke” that Indiana men’s basketball head coach Mike Woodson needed public reassurance he’d be returning for the 2024-25 campaign.
The Hoosiers were roughly half an hour removed from a 65-64 win over the Spartans, which came four days after Indiana Athletics confirmed Woodson would be back with the program after a disappointing campaign that ultimately ended without a postseason bid.
It may have been a joke then, but nobody’s laughing now.
Izzo and Woodson will meet again at 9 p.m. Tuesday inside the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Ironically, the game comes four days after Indiana announced Woodson will retire at season’s end.
The Hoosiers have lost five straight games and seven of their last eight overall. They’re spiraling in Woodson’s fourth season despite having, as he said before the year, the most talented roster of his tenure.
Indiana (14-10, 5-8 Big Ten) is hoping to bounce back — but Michigan State (19-4, 10-2 Big Ten) is far from an easy team to do it against.
Meet the Spartans
Izzo, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, is in his 30th season at Michigan State. He’s never had a losing season. The Spartans have made the past 26 NCAA Tournaments.
And on Tuesday, Izzo can add another record to his illustrious resume: most Big Ten wins. He enters the game tied with late Indiana head coach Bob Knight with 363 conference wins. In a sense, it’s poetic he gets the chance to pass Knight by beating the Hoosiers and Woodson, who played under Knight from 1976-80.
The Spartans lack star power, but they have plenty of depth.
Senior guard Jaden Akins leads Michigan State in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. The Spartans’ only other double-digit scorer is freshman guard Jase Richardson, who posts 10.2 points per night.
Five other Michigan State players score at least 7 points per game.
Sophomore forward Coen Carr scores 8.3 points per game, while junior guard Tre Holloman averages 8.2 points. Three Spartans — senior forward Frankie Fidler, junior forward Jaxon Kohler and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. — average 7.7 points per contest.
Michigan State rotates bodies at center, as three players average at least 15 minutes per night — and all are listed at 6-foot-11 or taller. Senior Szymon Zapala has started all 23 games, but he plays fewer minutes than both sophomore Xavier Booker and junior Carson Cooper, though only marginally.
Kohler, who stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 245 pounds, leads the team with 7.8 rebounds, while Fears averages a team-high 6.2 assists.
The Spartans score 79.8 points per game, seventh-most in the Big Ten, but struggle shooting from beyond the arc. Their 29.3% clip ranks last in the conference, and they’re the only team shooting worse than 30%. Michigan State makes 46.9% of its field goals overall, the eighth-best mark in the Big Ten.
Defensively, the Spartans are stout, holding opponents to 67.4 points per game, the third-lowest number in the conference. They’re one of the Big Ten’s best rebounding teams, ranking second with 40.7 boards per game. Michigan State outrebounds its opponents by 10.2 rebounds per night, the third-highest margin in the country.
As a result, Izzo’s squad is firmly in the race for the Big Ten title. The Spartans are one of three teams — Purdue and Michigan the others — with just two losses in conference play.
For Michigan State, Tuesday night’s game is significant for conference championship aspirations. For Indiana, it’s significant for avoiding elimination from the Big Ten Tournament altogether.
Hoosiers’ Big Ten Tournament hopes in jeopardy
Indiana enters Tuesday with five Big Ten wins, which puts the Hoosiers in a four-way tie for the 10th most in the conference. Still, Indiana’s path to the Big Ten Tournament is far from clinched.
With the Big Ten expanding from 14 to 18 teams, the conference tournament changed from all-inclusive to the top 15. In essence, the bottom three teams won’t get a chance to play from March 12-16 in Indianapolis.
Two Big Ten teams — Penn State and Washington — have only three wins in conference play. Everyone else has at least four.
So, the Hoosiers don’t have much breathing room between themselves and elimination. Nabbing a win Tuesday night could go a long way toward helping their cause.
Series history
The Hoosiers have a 73-59 edge over the Spartans, and Indiana won the lone meeting between the two sides last season.
Indiana has won two of the past three matchups, though Michigan State has taken three consecutive victories over the Hoosiers inside the Breslin Center. Indiana’s last win at Michigan State was Feb. 2, 2019.
The odds say ...
Indiana has a 15.3% chance of winning, according to ESPN Analytics.
Broadcast information
The game will stream on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister handling play-by-play duties alongside analyst Austin Rivers.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
