What Kur Teng's Huge Performance at IU Means for Michigan State
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --- The crowd at Assembly Hall rose to its feet several different times. Almost every single time, the fans ended up sitting right back down.
Kur Teng had his best offensive performance as a Spartan on Sunday, hitting six threes on just eight attempts during No. 13 Michigan State's 77-64 victory over Indiana on Sunday evening. Teng's 18 points are a career-best for him. He's wound up scoring 31 points while shooting 9-for-14 from beyond the arc during MSU's back-to-back road games at eighth-ranked Purdue and at IU.
"It felt great," Teng said after the game. "Especially when the crowd kind of got going. We just try to stay poised and just make sure we kind of calm everybody down."
Multiple of Teng's threes came with the white-out crowd in Bloomington standing up. These were big spots where the home fans were trying to help will their Hoosiers back into the game and it seemed like Indiana was gathering momentum. Teng was a huge reason that IU ended up never leading on Sunday, and his performance only means good things for Michigan State moving forward.
Kur Teng Media Availability Post-IU
Teng's Role Moving Forward
One of the things about what made Teng's performance special has to do with when he screwed up. Teng's defense is a reason he doesn't usually play more, but he was thrust into extended action during the first half after starting two-guard Jordan Scott picked up two fouls before the first media timeout even arrived.
Teng's defense was tested by Indiana. There were two plays that led to threes for the Hoosiers where Teng was off away from his man in the corner too much, and then another where he slipped while trying to get around a screen. Tom Izzo is going to let you hear it when that stuff happens 10 times out of 10.
"At one point, he had given up eight points, and we politely told him we didn't think it was good," Izzo said. "When a guy responds to that and his three threes in a row, you know what he wanted to say to me, and I would have taken it. That's the beauty of it."
Izzo wants a guy who performs when challenged, not somebody who wilts. Teng went 4-for-4 from deep in the first half. In the second half, Teng's two threes were a direct response to one Indiana three, and then another was right after Indiana had put together a mini 4-0 run that had gotten itself within five points (which is the closest the Hoosiers ever got in the second half). That's clutch shooting, and that's something Michigan State needs at this time in the year where the pressure is magnified.
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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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