The Spartans' bubble is close to bursting.
After losing their 11th game of the season to No. 15 Syracuse 76-75 on Sunday, the Spartans didn't help their NCAA Tournament chances.
But MSU does have other things on its side. The Spartans (14-11 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) play their next three games at Breslin Center - where they are 5-0 in Big Ten play.
MSU is tied for sixth in the conference with Indiana, however, it has beaten the Hoosiers twice this season.
The Spartans also can improve their conference standing because they play two teams at home that are ahead of them - Minnesota (16-7, 8-4) and Purdue (16-8, 8-5) - this week.
"Now we have to play some flawless basketball the next couple of weeks," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "It is just up to us to do our job on the court and it's up to other people to decide where we go. This team still has a run left in them."
Feeling the stress
What the missing front tooth is to hockey, the stress fracture has been to the Spartans.
Although he won't miss any games, sophomore guard Tim Bograkos has suffered the most recent leg stress fracture, Izzo said Monday, making Bograkos the sixth active Spartan to suffer the injury.
In addition to Bograkos, Anderson, freshman guard Maurice Ager, sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert, junior guard Rashi Johnson and senior forward Aloysius Anagonye have all fallen to the injury at some point in their careers at MSU.
"I don't think it's the floor," Izzo said. "And I don't really think it's the shoes, but we are really going to look into it and see what we can come up with. Maybe it's just the water."
Nine lives
He may be playing with nine fingers as of late, but sophomore forward/guard Alan Anderson has made a visible difference for the Spartans.
In MSU's loss to Syracuse, Anderson played point guard for the majority of the night, which moved sophomore guard Chris Hill to his natural position, shooting guard, for most of the game.
"Yesterday, I think that re-affirmed how important he is to this team," Izzo said.
During the last four games, when Anderson either did not play or saw limited action, Hill shot 31 percent (13-of-42) from the field and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from beyond the 3-point line. Against the Orangemen, Hill went 12-of-20 from the field, including a Big Ten record 10 3-pointers.
Big Ten announcements
The MSU-Ohio State basketball game will be played at 12:17 p.m. March 8 at Breslin Center.
Michigan point guard Daniel Horton earned Big Ten Player of the Week for his performance in U-M's 78-67 win against Purdue on Wednesday in West Lafayette, Ind.
He scored 31 points and added five assists, four rebounds and a career-high three steals. Horton is the first freshman in conference history to garner the honor three times in one season.
