#9 Michigan State Falls At 67-63 Indiana Official Game Thread
The Assembly Hall
Bloomington, IN
The #9 Michigan State Spartans are back in action tonight here at the legendary Assembly Hall. With a season record of 14-4 (6-1), Tom Izzo has called this week, (tonight vs. Indiana and Sunday at Minnesota) separation week. Tonight’s game tips off at 8:30 PM ET and you can see it on FS1.
Here are five quick notes courtesy of MSU super SID Mex Carey:
1. Series History Indiana leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 70-55 ... Indiana won both meetings last year and has won three of the last four ... The Hoosiers swept the season series in 2018-19, posting a 79-75 overtime win at the Breslin Center and a 63-62 win at Assembly Hall ... MSU has won seven of the last 10 overall ... Tom Izzo is 25-16 in his career against Indiana ... ... MSU is 15-46 all-time at Assembly Hall, but has won three of the last four meetings ... MSU’s last win at Indiana was a 63-60 decision on Feb. 3, 2018.
2. Last Year Against Indiana Indiana won a pair of games last year, beating Michigan State, 79-75, in overtime on Feb. 2 and then posting a 63-62 win on March 2 at Assembly Hall ... In the first meeting, Cassius Winston scored 26 points, but MSU struggled from the free throw line and lost in overtime to Indiana, 79-75 ... Xavier Tillman had 13 points and seven rebounds, Kenny Goins added 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and tied a school record with eight blocked shots, while Nick Ward added 11 points and six rebounds ... The Spartans hit only 36.4 percent of its free throws (8-of-22), a season low ... In the second meeting, MSU had a chance to win at the buzzer, but a shot fell short in the 63-62 loss ... Winston led the Spartans with 20 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, Xavier Tillman had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while adding four blocked shots, and Kenny Goins scored 14 points.
3. About the Spartans Senior guard Cassius Winston leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game … Winston is also fourth in the league in assists, averaging 6.1 per game, and first in free throw percentage, connecting on 86.7 percent of his shots (65-of-75) ... Junior forward Xavier Tillman is second on the team with 13.9 points per game (T13th in the Big Ten) and tops the team, and is third in the Big Ten, with 10.0 rebounds per game, while adding 3.0 assists per game and 2.1 blocks per game ... Sophomore forward Aaron Henry is third on the team with 9.8 points per game, while adding 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists ... MSU has four other players averaging at least 4.0 points per game, led by sophomore forward Gabe Brown, who is averaging 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds ... Freshman guard Rocket Watts adds 7.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists ...Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr., who has started the last 13 games and collected career high’s in rebounds (12) and blocks (5) against Illinois on Jan. 2, is averaging 4.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks ... Freshman forward Malik Hall, who had nine points and eight rebounds against Duke, is averaging 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds
4. Winston Selected as Candidate for Senior CLASS Award Cassius Winston has been named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. Winston is one of 30 players considered for the annual award ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition ... An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
5. Winston Breaks Michigan State and Big Ten All-Time Record for Career Assists Senior guard Cassius Winston handed out four assists in the win over Wisconsin on Jan. 17 and became the all-time leader in assists at Michigan State and in the Big Ten Conference ... Winston has 817 career assists, breaking the career record – and Big Ten mark – of 816, held for 20 years by former Spartan Mateen Cleaves ... Winston, who has scored 1,718 career points and ranks among the top-10 all-time in scoring at MSU, is the first player in Big Ten history to score at least 1,600 points and hand out at least 800 assists.
The team will return to the hard-court Sunday, January 26, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota taking on the Gophers. That game can be seen on FOX at 3:30 PM.
Make sure you constantly update this thread for highlights from this game and comment with Spartans fans from around the nation below, in the comment section. Get ready for a great ball game.
8:17 PM ET Starters: Gabe Brown, Xavier Tillman, Cassius Winston, Aaron Henry & Marcus Bingham Jr (MBJ)
UPDATE: 1st media timeout of the game. Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 12-4. The Spartans have 2 turnovers. 15:12
UPDATE: 2nd media timeout of the game. Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 18-6. The Spartans have 3 turnovers. 10:31 Spartans shooting 17%.
UPDATE: 3rd media timeout of the game. Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 27-17. The Spartans have 3 turnovers. 7:31 Spartans shooting 35%. from field and 11% from three
UPDATE: FINAL media timeout of the 1st half. Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 29-24. The Spartans have 4 turnovers. 3:46 Spartans shooting 40%. from the field and 20% from three
Halftime: IU leads #9 MSU 34-30 Stats below.
Photo courtesy of Shane Carpenter
UPDATE: 1st media timeout of the 2nd half Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 44-40. 15:25 The Spartans have eight turnovers.
UPDATE: 2nd media timeout of the 2nd half Indiana trails #9 Michigan State 51-48. 10:24 The Spartans have nine turnovers.
UPDATE: 3rd media timeout of the 2nd half Indiana leads #9 Michigan State 53-52. 7:26 The Spartans have 11 turnovers.
UPDATE: FINAL media timeout of the 2nd half Indiana trails #9 Michigan State 58-57. 3:37 The Spartans have 12 turnovers.
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