Michigan State basketball heads to Bloomington on Sunday to face a surging Indiana team. How do these two programs match up historically?
Michigan State basketball is set to finish its regular season as it travels to Indiana for the finale on Sunday evening. This will be no easy game as the Hoosiers are playing their best basketball this year and are currently riding a three-game winning streak.
Before the game tips off, let’s look at the series history between these two programs.
Indiana has a slight lead over MSU
Similarly to Purdue, which MSU played a week ago, Indiana also has a lead over Michigan State all time. The Hoosiers hold a 72-59 lead in the series between these two programs. This shocks me as I wouldn’t have guessed this was the case. Indiana was dominant decades ago, but I would have guessed the Spartans were more dominant in the last couple of decades. I guess that hasn’t been true.
Michigan State has been better in recent years, winning six of the last 10 matchups. This includes winning four of the last five meetings as well. Last year, the Spartans and Hoosiers split their meetings, with both teams winning comfortably at home. The most recent game was an 80-65 victory for Michigan State basketball, which saw Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard dominate. Walker finished with 23 points and Hoggard added 22.
Hopefully we see more of this on Sunday.
Indiana season update
The Hoosiers have had a very average year so far. They are 17-13 overall and 9-10 in the Big Ten. Indiana was recently on a four-game losing streak which saw them lose twice to lowly Penn State. But the Hoosiers have turned it around in a big way since then. They are riding a three-game winning streak with victories over Wisconsin, Maryland, and Minnesota, which puts them firmly back in contention for an NCAA Tournament appearance.
The non-conference slate didn’t provide anything to write home about. They beat all of the teams they should have beaten and failed to notch a marquee victory. Their only Power Six non-conference win came against Louisville, which isn’t impressive this year.
This will be a tough game for MSU to win. The Hoosiers are playing their best ball all season and their crowd will be fired up for their Senior Night. The Spartans haven’t been playing well recently, so this could be a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t feel too great about this game, but if Michigan State can play like we know it can, watch out.
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