Michigan State pulls away late against Indiana, bolsters resume with UM on deck

Nothing has come easy for Michigan State this season, so with the Spartans still chasing an NCAA Tournament bid in the final week of the regular season, the struggle wasn’t about to disappear.

The Spartans were hosting Indiana on Tuesday night at the Breslin Center, their fourth game in a week with two more still to play. The offense had been on vacation for much of the game, the same as it was two days ago in a loss at Maryland that snapped a three-game winning streak.

And Michigan State’s best player – Aaron Henry – was barely a factor for the first 20 minutes.

“We didn't move the ball at all,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “We weren't running, we weren't moving the ball at all, and some of it was Aaron's fault, and he took the blame at halftime.”

Whatever transpired in that locker room proved to a critical moment.

Henry took off in the second half, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the final 20 minutes, including pouring in 12 in a row after Indiana had taken a one-point lead with just less than five minutes to play. That final flurry allowed Michigan State to seize control of the game and pull away for the 64-58 victory.

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“I just wanted to win,” Henry said. “The pressure is on us and there have been guys in my position that have been here before that have excelled and stepped up and got teams over the hump. So, it all comes down to just me wanting to win for my team. That’s all I want to do.”

It was Michigan State’s fourth win in its last five games and completed the season sweep of Indiana as the first victory over Hoosiers began the Spartans’ recent run. It’s a run that has Michigan State thinking NCAA Tournament, something that seemed like a pipe dream roughly two weeks ago.

But the Spartans (14-10, 8-10 Big Ten) are starting to appear in plenty of bracket projections after top-five wins last week over Illinois and Ohio State, and with Tuesday’s victory, they now head into back-to-back meetings with No. 2 Michigan beginning Thursday in Ann Arbor and culminating on Sunday back at the Breslin Center.

“If our conference doesn't deserve nine, 10 teams, I don't know what conference ever will,” Izzo said. “Now, are we one of those? I don't know. That’s for you guys to write about and some committee to pick. We dug ourselves our own hole.

“I said a long time ago that loss to Purdue could end up a haunting loss, the way we lost at the end the stuff that went on. And if it is, so be it, but we're going to give it our fight. I think we're an NCAA Tournament team.”

If Michigan State gets that bid, the win on Tuesday will be critical.

While Henry came up huge in the second half, Joshua Langford added 13 points and Gabe Brown scored 10 for Michigan State, including five in a row in the second half that sparked the Spartans’ offense.

“Gabe hit those two big (shots) and I think that was really big for us,” Izzo said.

Rob Phinisee scored 16 for Indiana (12-13, 7-11) as big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored 34 in the first meeting this season, was limited to nine points as the Hoosiers might have seen their NCAA Tournament hopes vanish.

It was a poor offensive performance all the way around for the Hoosiers, who were 2-for-20 from 3-point range and were just 10-for-26 overall in the second half.

“I thought the last four minutes they were tough to defend around the baskets,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “Probably one of the most physical games we've seen on both ends of the floor. Aaron Henry made some really crucial plays late. He's a great driver and to his credit he made some big baskets there late.

"We didn't convert in the last three minutes from an offensive standpoint, especially in the last two-and-a-half minutes in the game. … We gave ourselves a chance to win, but you are going to have a hard time winning on the road when you go 2-for-20 from three.”

The first 20 minutes were far from an offensive masterpiece as it took more than five minutes for anyone to make a shot. Indiana missed its first seven shots while Michigan State misfired on its first six. By the end of the half, the Hoosiers were 1-for-13 from 3-point range while the Spartans were 1-for-8.

Michigan State also struggled on the glass, allowing seven offensive rebounds while turning the ball over eight times, which Indiana turned into nine points.

Even as bad as Michigan State was offensively for most of the half, it managed to make its final three shots, including a pair from Langford to tie the game at 26 heading into the halftime locker room.

The offensive struggles continued for both teams in the second half as the shots banged off the rim and the whistles blew with both teams entering the bonus just six minutes into the half. The Spartans managed to retake the lead, 31-29, but the Hoosiers scored six in a row and pushed the lead to 38-33 with 12:46 to play after a Phinisee triple.

Michigan State responded with a 9-1 run as Brown nailed a triple and a deep jumper to force an Indiana timeout with 10:08 to play. The Hoosiers responded, pulling back in front, 47-46, but Joey Hauser’s second straight bucket gave the Spartans a 48-47 lead with 6:41 left in the game.

“It says a lot,” Brown said of Michigan State’s offense coming to life. “We’re not going to give up. That’s one thing that we're not going to do, we're not going to give up. That's all because of Coach. He pushes us every day.”

It was then that Henry began his critical 12-point surge that included a huge 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim followed by a steal at the other end and another bucket to take the game and lead Michigan State to the victory.

“Aaron took over tonight,” Izzo said. “We’ve still got a long way to go. We all know that there's no rose-colored petals here. We still have a lot of work to do, but this team is showing some character and I'm proud of them for that.”

The work only gets tougher now with two in a row against the Wolverines, who are coming off a rare one-sided loss to Illinois on Tuesday. That won’t change the way Michigan State approaches the final two games before heading to the Big Ten tournament.

“I heard Michigan lost, but they're still the best team in this league, everybody knows it, and we got our work cut out,” Izzo said. “I'm going to leave here, go talk to my staff and try to figure out what the game plan is for tomorrow as far as how we can get ready for a team we haven't played yet, and get through the situation that we've been in for the last six games, or whatever it's been. We’ll look forward to it, that's what I'm going to do. But tonight, I’m proud of my team.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau