Nairn finished the game with a career-high seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor.

“I know how teams are gonna play me now,” Nairn said. “I knew they were gonna be sagging off. I knew there (would) be open opportunities and open shots, and I just went in there with confidence and knocked them down.”

The freshman’s solid performance came on a night when Trice was sick, and at halftime, “he was really out of it,” according to head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo noted that Trice was "run down a little last night" and junior forward Denzel Valentine did not practice yesterday. Both were questionable to play heading into the game.

With older Spartan fans in attendance as part of the Izzone Alumni Reunion Game, MSU gave the crowd plenty to cheer about.

The first half was a high-flying affair for the Spartans, as senior forward Branden Dawson and sophomore forward Gavin Schilling traded highlight-worthy dunks.

“Having dunks like that at the beginning of the game gets the crowd hyped and that gets us hyped too,” Schilling said. “It’s a boost of energy throughout the whole team and it gets us going even more.”

After getting out-rebounded by Maryland in its Big Ten opener, MSU worked the glass early and often, holding a 29-16 rebounding advantage at the half. MSU finished the game with a 50-28 rebound advantage, 17 of which came offensively.

The Spartan defense was also solid in the first half, holding the Hoosiers to just 17.9% shooting from the field. Izzo said it was one of the best defensive games he’s seen from the team this year.

“I thought tonight the defense really won us the game, and that led to some breaks on offense,” Izzo said.

At halftime, MSU led Indiana 36-17 after an impressive all-around half of basketball. The Spartans have struggled putting away teams in the second half of games this season, but that wasn’t quite the case tonight.

A jumper from junior guard Bryn Forbes put MSU up 30 points at the 13:13 mark in the second half before the Hoosiers chipped away at the lead. Indiana closed the gap to 16 points at the 3:14 mark, but at that point, MSU was still comfortably ahead.

The Spartans eventually closed the game out and came away with their first Big Ten win of the season, holding Indiana to 50 points. The Hoosiers had previously been averaging 85.2 points per game, good for seventh-highest in the nation.

“They’re a very good dribble and drive team,” Dawson said of the Hoosiers. “Yogi (Ferrell), Troy Williams—all those guys are good with the ball and that’s what we went over in practice…we just focused on being in the gaps. Coach (Izzo) got us prepared the night before and we just stuck to his game plan.”

Indiana junior guard Yogi Ferrell carried his team offensively, finishing with 17 points.

Dawson finished with a double-double, recording 14 points and 13 rebounds. It was exactly the kind of game MSU needed from Dawson, according to Izzo.

“It really helps when Dawson plays like he played,” Izzo said. “The rebounding, the running of the court, the great job he did defensively.”