Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans' Loss to Indiana
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- When No. 11 Michigan State got off to a strong 20-8 start in its home matchup with Indiana on Tuesday, an eventual loss seemed like a slim possibility.
But the Spartans blew that lead, and after losing it late in the first half, they were never able to regain an edge.
Indiana's zone defense proved troublesome for the Spartans, who struggled from the field, shooting just 38.2% on the night. They also got in foul trouble, which limited their defensive production in the second half, allowing the Hoosiers to score 26 points in the paint in the second half.
Our Aidan Champion recaps the contest on this postgame edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast.
You can watch the episode below:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after the game. Below is a transcript from the opening statement of his presser:
Izzo: "Well, to say disappointment would be an understatement. Give Indiana a lot of credit. Everybody knows they've gone through hell, and give Mike [Woodson] credit. I mean, he did a better job than I did. And there's so many areas that I am disappointed in. The three layups we missed in the first half, they get costly as you go, but the foul trouble we got in and poor job that we did -- we couldn't double the post, but we sure could have dug down, and we didn't do that. And I take full responsibility for that. I mean, the guy [Malik Reneau] just killed us second half. I told you [in the] press conference earlier, I was worried about him, but there's not a lot of film on him, because he hasn't played in a month. And we didn't do a very good job on him. And we were in so much foul trouble that our bigs really couldn't guard well. But we also missed the three, four layups, and we missed some incredible, I thought, open 3s, but that's the way the game goes. That's why got to win games defensively. The 3s don't always come. And did a decent job with our turnovers. OK job rebounding the ball against a good team. But a lot of people, including my two college roommates, that came a long way, and Steve Smith and a lot of people came in for it, and I feel bad for them because we had an opportunity for a special night. And I don't think the players played very well, and I don't think the coaches coached very well. So, that's a bad combination against a team that was desperate. I don't want to take anything away from Indiana. They didn't hardly take a shot in the second half, they just pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside. And again, we were in so much foul trouble, we didn't guard it very well, and then, we didn't adjust to some of that, and we lost the game."
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