3 Instant Takeaways as Indiana Basketball Suffers Blowout Loss at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The cheers were already loud for Jeremy Fears, who'd merely returned to the court after less than two minutes on the bench. Moments later, Michigan State's sophomore guard made fans inside the Breslin Center cheer even louder.

Fears forced a steal against Indiana basketball senior guard Conor Enright, broke away in transition and finished a thunderous dunk on the other end. The slam gave Fears 14 of Michigan State's 17 points and jumpstarted an 11-2 run that turned the Spartans' 5-point deficit into a 4-point lead with under five minutes remaining in the first half.

The Hoosiers never led again.

Indiana (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) battled turnovers and, for a difference-making spurt in the first half, had no answer for Fears en route to an 81-60 loss Michigan State on Tuesday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

Here are three takeaways from Indiana's second consecutive Big Ten defeat.

Turnovers a killer for Hoosiers

Indiana coach Darian DeVries lamented turnovers in the Hoosiers' second-half collapse vs. Nebraska on Sunday, and his team's sloppiness traveled to East Lansing. The Hoosiers committed eight turnovers in the first half, and Michigan State turned them into 19 points.

Indiana appeared to solve its turnover issues in the second half, as the Hoosiers had zero giveaways through the first nine minutes out of the locker room.

But as Indiana trailed 55-53 with 11 minutes remaining, senior forward Reed Bailey and sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions, and Michigan State turned them into an and-one layup and a one-handed dunk so strong, so electrifying, the Hoosiers had to call timeout. Suddenly, Michigan State led 60-53.

DeVries called another timeout just over a minute and a half later, after an Enright turnover led to a Fears layup on the other end. The Hoosiers' deficit ballooned to 12 points.

Seven minutes thereafter, DeVries called his final timeout. Indiana trailed 79-55, Michigan State's run at an inconceivable 26-2, and the Spartans only kept adding.

Indiana finished with 14 turnovers, which the Spartans turned into 29 points on the other end.

The margin for error is thin. IU keeps overstepping the line.

The Hoosiers led No. 8 Nebraska by 16 points in the second half Saturday, and they were tied with No. 8 Michigan State on the road with just over 11 minutes to play in the final frame Tuesday night.

Indiana proved it can hang into the second half with two of the Big Ten's best teams. But the Hoosiers ultimately succumbed to self-inflicted wounds and lengthy scoring droughts in both contests.

It's a reminder Indiana's margin for error is razor thin. The Hoosiers have talent, and when they piece it together, they're capable of playing at a high, encouraging level. But they don't have the size or depth of scorers to overcome the turnovers and scoring droughts that have become increasingly common against good teams on the road.

Apart from Wilkerson, IU struggles finding consistent outlets of scoring — again

Wilkerson paced the Hoosiers with 19 points. He was the team's lone player in double figures.

Indiana needs to find more consistent scorers outside Wilkerson, who entered as the Hoosiers' leading scorer at over 20 points per game. Tucker DeVries ended with 9 points, and sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway tallied 5 points, though he added nine assists. Enright, senior forward Sam Alexis and junior forward Nick Dorn each scored 6 points.

The Hoosiers went 21-for-49 shooting from the field and 10 for 31 from beyond the arc. Michigan State outrebounded Indiana, 37-19, and the Hoosiers had only 17 assists to 14 turnovers.