Izzo’s 2 Most Important Thoughts on Spartans’ Showdown With Indiana
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- It's a little bit tough to believe, but college basketball's regular season is already a little more than halfway over.
No. 12 Michigan State has played 16 games and now has 15 contests remaining before its time to prepare for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. The mental grind has just begun, though. MSU is only 25% of the way through its conference schedule.
Next up for the 14-2 Spartans, who are also off to a 4-1 Big Ten start, is another home game against Indiana on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, Peacock). This is Michigan State's third consecutive game against a conference foe at the Breslin Center. IU will enter with a 12-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark during conference play.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo talked about the challenge ahead for his team after practice on Sunday afternoon. A video of his press availability has been provided below, along with more written analysis on the matchup.
Watch Tom Izzo here:
More on Tuesday's Upcoming Matchup
Even though we're past New Year's and into the depths of conference play, there is still so much jostling for positioning going on. Anyone who claims to know exactly how good anybody is is probably lying. Second-ranked Michigan had looked like a near-unstoppable force during the early parts of the season, but the Wolverines were just upset by Wisconsin in Ann Arbor and needed to get a final stop to beat Penn State the game before that.
"To be honest with you, it's still early," Izzo said. "It's confusing. I still think the best two teams could be Michigan and Purdue. Michigan with the best talent; Purdue, the best experience. Illinois, also, is very talented. And then there's us [MSU] and Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, teams like that. Iowa, they're still in it."
Thoughts on the Hoosiers
Even though Indiana seems to be a full-on football school these days, there is still a little something about playing the Hooisers. They are still one of the conference's most successful programs, after all. There is also a reason the cliche "in 49 states, it's just basketball, but this is Indiana" exists.
Indiana's fanbase is massive, and it's passionate for a winner. The Hoosiers' account on Twitter/X has over 985,000 followers. Michigan State's account has a little more than 450,000. That's still a really good amount for MSU, but it doesn't feel like it compared to IU.
Facing the Hoosiers has some added meaning for Izzo, too. His very first Big Ten game was against the legendary Bobby Knight's Indiana program, with the Spartans winning that game, 65-60.
"When you think of the Big Ten, Indiana's one of the first schools you think about, and deservedly so," Izzo said. "They've earned the right to do that over the years... We're not playing the [Indiana] football team, thank God. But it's a very good basketball team that's done a very good job this year. They're highly ranked, and they had a 16-point lead in the last game [against Nebraska]."
On Indiana Star Wilkerson
The player to know on the Hoosiers is Sam Houston State transfer Lamar Wilkerson. His jump from the Conference USA to the Big Ten has been no biggie to him, as he's currently averaging 20.3 points per game thus far. Izzo was asked what Wilkerson does when he has it going.
"Shoots it," Izzo responded. "And then after that, he shoots it. And after that, he scores it even more. If he gets hot... he had 44 [points] in a game. He's averaging 27 [points during Big Ten play]. It's hard to average 27 in this league, and he's doing it for real. That makes it tough. He's done a good job. He's dynamic, as far as he can shoot it from anywhere. I give him credit, because he's a hell of a player."
Izzo was not lying there. Wilkerson had 44 points during a game against Penn State on Dec. 9, shooting a scorching 10-of-15 from three during the contest. Partially because of that outburst against the Nittany Lions, Wilkerson is averaging 27.4 points per contest through five Big Ten games.
He's also coming off a huge game against 10th-ranked Nebraska. IU ended up letting that aforementioned 16-point advantage slip away, but Wilkerson dropped 32 points in the process. He's scored at least 20 points in each of the Hoosiers' last five games.
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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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