Big Days for Kohler, Teng Lead Michigan State Past Indiana
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --- Don't look now, but Michigan State is trending in a very good direction as the calendar turns to March.
No. 13 MSU took care of business on the road again to celebrate the first day of "Izzo", as the Spartans boxed out Indiana on Sunday at Assembly Hall, 77-64. It's Michigan State's fourth straight victory and the team's second road victory in the state of Indiana in four days.
It was Jaxon Kohler's and Kur Teng's day. Kohler dropped a season-high 21 points and 13 rebounds. Teng drilled six threes to account for all of his career-high 18 points, with several of his made shots coming right when Indiana seemed to be gathering momentum. Jeremy Fears Jr. also had 21 points and nine assists in the winning effort.
MSU will return to East Lansing for what will be its last home game of the season against Rutgers on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET that night on FS1.
Game Recap
First Half
The start in this one was certainly different than the one in Mackey on Thursday. Michigan State's offense was consistently getting some quality looks while making it difficult on the Hoosiers. Kohler got involved a lot early, hitting a three and finding mismatches against smaller defenders in the post.
At the under-12 timeout, the Spartans had jumped out to a 21-10 lead after making eight of their first 10 shots. Indiana had shot just 3-for-12 up to that point.
MSU just kind of kept IU at arm's length for the rest of the half, going up by as much as 13. Teng was huge with Jordan Scott in foul trouble, making his first four threes of the game to get 12 points by halftime. Kohler's 14 first-half points were already the most for him in a game since he scored 16 against... Indiana on Jan. 13.
Indiana knocked down a couple of threes towards the end of the half to cut into the deficit, though. Michigan State ended up settling for a 45-37 halftime lead, which is a result it probably would take, especially with Scott, Carson Cooper, and Cam Ward all picking up second fouls. MSU would probably be up by more if it hadn't gotten out-rebounded by two, along with a 5-1 difference in offensive boards.
Second Half
Turnovers plagued Michigan State early int he second half. The Spartans only had three turnovers for the entirety of the first half, but committing their fourth just over five minutes into the second half. Indiana was also taking into the paint a little bit more and finding success with Cooper on the bench with a third foul.
Even with all that though, IU had only cut the Spartans' lead to seven with 12 minutes to go. Teng hit another big three to help quell the crowd and the Hoosiers' momentum. It felt like Indiana had thrown its best punch around this point, making six shots in a row. Michigan State weathered that storm, though answering seemingly every time with more threes from Teng and one from Scott.
All MSU kept doing was keeping the home team at arm's length. Every bucket was matched with a bucket. The white-out crowd at Assembly Hall desperately wanted to stand up and get into the game, but Michigan State just never seemed to let them.
MSU even went without scoring for more than five minutes towards the end to give Indiana some chances to get back in it. The Spartans' defense refused to give up any ground, though, as the place ended up becoming half-empty when the final buzzer sounded.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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