Michigan State Basketball: Preview for Spartans vs. Indiana

After Michigan State basketball defeated a determined Northwestern Wildcats squad on January 8, 76-66, the green and white moved to 14-2, which places the Spartans tied for second with Michigan and Illinois in the Big Ten. Five days later, Tom Izzo’s squad enters the Breslin Center for their final game during this three-game home stretch against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Indiana stands at 12-4, tied for third in the Big Ten with a 3-2 conference record. First-year head coach Darian DeVries will attempt to do what Iowa head coach Ben McCollum could not do earlier this season, take down a Tom Izzo led team in Devries’s first season in the Big Ten.

DeVries time at West Virginia was short, only lasting one season before his jump to the Big Ten. Before WVU, DeVries revived a Drake program, leading them to three first-round exits in the NCAA tournament before jumping ship to the Big 12 for a year.

DeVries not only brought his son Tucker, who averages 14.9 points per game and and a team-leading 5.1 rebounds per game, but also took in coveted Sam Houston State transfer Lamar Wilkerson, who currently leads the Hoosiers in points per game with 20.3 and an outstanding 42% from three-point range.

Wilkerson will be the main threat tonight for the Spartans after their five-day break. Similar to previous games, MSU will most likely not be able to completely shut out Wilkerson or DeVries shooting skills, but the trick is to limit their overall success.

What is Michigan State’s advantage tonight? The rebounding battle. Three Spartans currently average a higher amount of rebounds per game then Indiana’s leading rebounder Tucker DeVries. Jaxon Kohler with a team-leading 10.1, Carson Cooper averages 7.3, and Coen Carr averages 5.2.

The game tonight will be a close one, with the Hoosiers dominant offense against the Spartans gritty and intense defense. Will Darian DeVries fall in the same fate as Ben McCollum did?  Or will he carve his own legacy tonight? Last season, Indiana was the only opponent to emerge victorious against Michigan State at the Breslin Center.

Tune in when the game tips at 7 p.m. EST.