Michigan St. @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Indiana 79, Michigan St 75

Michigan State looks to win its sixth straight game and stay in at least a tie for first place in the Big Ten when it travels to face Indiana on Saturday afternoon. The No. 8 Spartans are coming off perhaps their biggest win of the season, a 77-70 victory at No. 10 Michigan on Sunday, while the Hoosiers have a little momentum as well after breaking their five-game losing streak with a 75-73 double-overtime decision over No. 18 Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Coach Tom Izzo has another great point guard in junior Cassius Winston, who leads the Spartans in scoring (19.2 points) and the Big Ten in assists (7.4) while hitting 42.6 percent of his attempts from 3-point range. Winston has had to take on a bigger role because of the injury losses of guard Joshua Langford (out for the season) and forward Nick Ward (out indefinitely), who have a combined scoring average of 30.1 points, and now guard Matt McQuaid (9.0 points, 44,0 percent on 3-pointers) may be hobbled because of an ankle injury suffered this week in practice. If he plays, McQuaid will be counted on to shadow Indiana freshman guard Romeo Langford (17.1 points), who leads the Hoosiers in scoring and registered a team-high 19 points in Indiana's upset win over the Spartans in early February. Indiana's other double-figure scorer, senior forward Juwan Morgan (14.9 points, 8.3 rebounds), played only 13 minutes in the previous meeting with Michigan State before suffering a shoulder injury and is hoping to be more of a factor in this one.

TV: Noon ET, FOX

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (23-5, 14-3 Big Ten): Michigan State has been able to make up for the injury losses by getting more contributions from its freshmen, as Izzo tries to keep his starters fresh as much as he can. With Xavier Tillman moving to the starting lineup in place of Ward, freshman Thomas Kithier has become the first big man off the bench for Izzo, with the 6-8 forward logging double-digit minutes in four of the last five contests after playing 10 or more minutes once in the team's first 23 games. Forward Aaron Henry has started 11 of the last 12 contests for the Spartans after coming off the bench in the season's first 16 games, and forward Gabe Brown will likely see more time if McQuaid is unable to put in his full 30.1-minute average.

ABOUT INDIANA (14-14, 5-12): The biggest factor in Indiana's victory over Michigan State earlier this season was the balanced scoring coach Archie Miller was able to get, even with Morgan scoring only five points. The foursome of Justin Smith, Aljami Durham, Devonte Green and De'Ron Davis - who average a combined 28.4 points this season - scored 50 against the Spartans, making it difficult for Michigan State to focus on stopping Langford. The Hoosiers also hit 10-of-20 3-pointers in the overtime victory, a mark they've hit only one other time this season, as they rank last in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage at 30.8 percent.

TIP-INS

1. Michigan State led the nation in total assists (542) and ranked second in assists per game (19.4) through the end of February.

2. Indiana F Race Thompson set a career high with seven rebounds against Wisconsin.

3. Spartan F Kenny Goins is fourth in the Big Ten and was 41st nationally with 9.1 rebounds per game.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 80, Indiana 71