GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Tipoff: Michigan State at Indiana

Graham Couch
Lansing State Journal
Indiana guard James Blackmon Jr. (second from right) celebrates with teammates after hitting the winning shot at the buzzer to beat Penn State on Wednesday in Happy Valley.

•What: MSU at Indiana

•When: 4 p.m. Saturday

•Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind.

•TV/Radio: ESPN / Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM.

•Records/Rankings: MSU is 12-7 overall, 4-2 in the Big Ten and unranked. Indiana is 13-6, 3-3 and also unranked.

•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 536-212 in his 22nd season, all with the Spartans. Indiana — Tom Crean is 351-221 in 18 seasons, including 161-125 in nine seasons with the Hoosiers.

•Series: Indiana leads 67-53 all-time, though MSU has won five straight against the Hoosiers.

MSU

Pos.

Name

PPG

C (44)

Nick Ward (6-8)

13.3

F (22)

Miles Bridges (6-7)

15.3

G (14)

Eron Harris (6-3)

12.1

G (1)

Joshua Langford (6-5)

6.3

G (11)

Tum Tum Nairn (5-10)

4.3

Indiana

Pos.

Name

PPG

C (31)

Thomas Bryant (6-10)

11.9

F (13)

Juwan Morgan (6-8)

7.3

F (1)

James Blackmon (6-4)

17.5

G (4)

Robert Johnson (6-3)

13.8

G (2)

Josh Newkirk (6-1)

7.3

MSU update: Based on Tom Izzo’s timeline for Miles Bridges, this might be the first game that his freshman star is entirely back to what he was before a foot injury sidelined him for all of December. It coincides with the first game Bridges isn’t expected to be on a minutes restriction. He played 32 minutes at Ohio State last Sunday — scoring 24 points — but was kept to four-minute stretches at a time, which contributed to some odd lineup combinations for MSU. Izzo doesn’t want a lineup on the floor that doesn’t include either Bridges or freshman center Nick Ward. Ward’s struggles at Ohio State also didn’t help MSU live by that rule in Sunday’s loss. The Spartans, perhaps as healthy as they’re going to be, are still in a decent spot in the Big Ten standings at 4-2, tied for third place entering the weekend behind Maryland (5-1) and Wisconsin (4-1).

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Indiana update: The Hoosiers escaped a furious comeback by Penn State on James Blackmon Jr.’s buzzer beater Wednesday night. But in the win, Indiana was dealt a potentially devastating blow when sophomore OG Anunoby suffered a season-ending knee injury just before halftime. The 6-foot-8 Anunoby, a projected first-round NBA draft pick, gave the Hoosiers the sort of strength and athleticism at the forward spot that can’t be replaced. Indiana’s best bet to do so, 6-7 sophomore Juwan Morgan, is hobbled with a foot injury that kept him out at Penn State. It’s unclear if he’ll play against the Spartans. The Hoosiers have been an enigma this season. They were ranked as high No. 3 early in the season and have nonleague wins over Kansas and North Carolina. They also have two home losses in Big Ten play — to Nebraska and Wisconsin — and an uninspiring effort against Louisville in Indianapolis on New Year’s Eve.

About the matchup:The loss of Anunoby is enormous for Indiana — long-term this season and likely Saturday afternoon. With Anunoby, Indiana was among the few teams that had an athletic counter to Bridges. If Morgan can’t play, either, that’s suddenly a matchup more in the Spartans’ favor than usual. It’ll interesting to watch Ward and Indiana’s Thomas Bryant against each other. Bryant is a fierce talent, but not always as tough around the rim as he should be. He also sometimes drifts to the perimeter. While he can make 3-point shots, Ward would be wise to let Bryant roam if he wants to. Defensively, Bryant is athletic and long enough to bother Ward, if he’s willing to be in that fight. It’ll be interesting to see if Ward commands a double team, given the Hoosiers’ matchup issues with Bridges and Ward’s struggles against another athletic big man at Ohio State. For MSU, keeping Blackmon in check will be no small chore. That assignment likely falls on Joshua Langford and Alvin Ellis.

Prediction: Assembly Hall on a Saturday in January can be one of the most intimidating venues in college basketball. MSU, amazingly, has won the last two meetings in Bloomington. This Indiana team struggles at times because it doesn’t have great point guard play and its best two NBA prospects — Bryant and Anunoby — are better prospects than they are consistent college players. Still, when the Hoosiers are hitting shots, this can be a scary team. At home, in this setting, here’s guessing they do.

» Make it: Indiana 80, MSU 75

— Graham Couch