It's not that Indiana never had a chance against MSU on Saturday night; it's just that the Hoosiers never found a way to contain sophomore center Paul Davis.
"We have nobody that can guard him," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "When he's playing basketball like that, it's hard to beat them."
Paul Davis abused the Hoosiers all night with a variety of offensive moves. On one possession, he would establish good post position, lose the defender with a fluid up-and-under move and effortlessly lay the ball in. On another, he would hit a baseline jumper, keeping the defense honest. There was, however, one move Davis used in the first half that didn't please MSU head coach Tom Izzo: the fade-away jump shot.
"He promised he wouldn't shoot any more fades and he didn't and it made a big difference," Izzo said.
By the end of the night, Davis scored a career-high 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
"He was unbelievable tonight and he was demanding the ball," junior guard Chris Hill said. "He was confident with it, and he was making plays when he got it."
MSU (10-8 overall, 5-2 Big Ten) turned in another impressive offensive effort in its 84-72 win against Indiana (11-7, 5-2). The Spartans shot 59.6 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent in the second half. In its seven Big Ten games, MSU has shot 54.2 percent.
Izzo struggled to put the Spartans' potent offense into words.
"You go figure," he said. "I don't know, but our offensive stats have really continued to rise, other than our free-throw shooting."
With the win, MSU matched the overall record it had through 18 games last year and pulled a half-game closer to first-place Wisconsin (14-3, 5-1). MSU and Indiana are now tied for second place in the conference.
The Spartans trailed by one at halftime, 34-35, but started the second half on a 15-6 run. The Spartans didn't look back and built a 19-point lead with less than four minutes remaining.
Though the game seemed out of reach, the Hoosiers refused to give up. They began intentionally fouling MSU with about two and a half minutes left. The Spartans struggled at the line down the stretch, going 8-for-12, and Indiana sunk four 3-pointers in the last three minutes to make the final score a bit closer.
Izzo said he was satisfied with MSU's defensive effort for the most part. At one point, Indiana led 24-17, mainly because guards Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland got wide-open looks from the perimeter. The Hoosiers made five of their first six 3-point attempts.
"The first 10 minutes of that game, I thought they really took it to us," Izzo said. "We just did not come out and check like we could. Then I thought we really clamped down.
"We were losing by how we were checking, and I think we won it by how we checked."
Wright led the Hoosiers with 29 points. He shot 9-for-18 from the floor, including 6-for-13 from 3-point range. Overall, Indiana took 30 3-pointers, converting on 12 of them.
Saturday's game, televised by ESPN, was part of the station's 25th anniversary celebration of broadcasting college basketball. Some members of the Izzone dressed up in 1970s-style clothes, and commentator Dick Vitale wore a vintage blazer and horn-rimmed glasses.
MSU is home for its next game against Iowa on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
