Michigan State vs Indiana: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Michigan State and Indiana both desperately need to win; who prevails in this Big Ten showdown?
TV schedule: Saturday, February 20, 12:00 pm ET.
Arena: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana
The Big Ten has been a rough battle and no team has seen that more than Michigan State (10-9). Once ranked as high as #4, the Spartans have really fallen apart as the season has progressed, with just four wins in Big Ten play on their resume. They haven’t won the road since at Nebraska just after New Year’s; can they get back on track?
Some of the elite talent from last season is gone, and it’s been junior forward Aaron Henry (14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) picking up the slack. Henry had a season-high 27 points in that most recent road win, also leading the team in scoring in Tuesday’s loss at Purdue. Senior guard Joshua Langford (9.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg) has played well at times this year, but the Spartans just haven’t been able to keep up with the rest of the pack.
The losses of Cassius Winston and several others from last year’s dynamic squad are clearly showing. The Spartans haven’t been ranked in over a month and have slid all the way to 69th in KenPom, with an anemic offense barely in the top 100. At just 4-9 in conference play, all of their Big Ten wins are against programs going nowhere this season.
For Indiana (12-9) it’s been an up and down season, but perhaps things are trending upwards at the right time. The Hoosiers have a pair of wins over Iowa in the past month and have now won three of their last four games. Can they keep rolling and get themselves an NCAA Tournament bid?
It’s been Trayce Jackson-Davis (19.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg) in a starring role for the Hoosiers all season. He’s played like a First Team All-Big Ten player and had his latest double-double in their win over Minnesota on Wednesday night. Sophomore guard Armaan Franklin (12.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) has also provided a spark on offense while junior forward Race Thompson (9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg) has been a solid presence in the interior as well.
Indiana has worked their way up to 28th in KenPom and sit at .500 in a very tough Big Ten. Their defense has played well and it’s hard to find a single player who means more to their team in this league than what Jackson-Davis has done for the Hoosiers. He still doesn’t get the attention given to Luka Garza or Ayo Dosunmu but his impact has been surreal.
For the Spartans, they need their offense to wake up, and that may start with players like Langford and Joey Hauser hitting their shots, especially from outside. The Spartans’ defense has been solid, but they can’t play catch up in these games with their offense struggling. For the Hoosiers, feeding Jackson-Davis is always a solid option. Their defense hasn’t played their best ball in recent weeks and this Spartans game might be a solid shot for some of these defensive playmakers to get back on track.
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The way things have been trending, it would be a surprise to see the Spartans figure things out at this point. It’s hard to see how they’ll match up with an Indiana offense that’s been playing well in recent weeks against much better teams. Indiana has a rough stretch to end their season; they really need this game at home.