“There’s a little bit of me that could see him playing (against Indiana), there’s a little more of me that could see him playing Saturday (against Michigan), and there is something in me that could see him not playing for two weeks,” Izzo said.

Once again, it will be sophomore forward Matt Costello and junior forward Alex Gauna filling in Payne’s big shoes against Indiana. Costello said with Payne sidelined, it has given him a chance to improve his game and work on attacking the rim on offense.

“I feel like I’ve done pretty well, except against Northwestern, that was a letdown for me personally,” Costello said. “With (Payne) being out … (Gauna) stepped up against Northwestern and I’ve stepped up against Illinois, so hopefully we keep growing.”

The duo will be facing a tough test in the form of Hoosier 6-foot-10 freshman forward Noah Vonleh, who is the best big man in the conference, according to Costello.

Last time the Hoosiers’ freshman phenom went up against the Spartans on Jan. 4, he was held to five points but grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

While he did dominate the glass in the contest, keeping him off the scoreboard will add momentum for Costello when they take the court Tuesday.

“It gives me confidence going into the game,” Costello said. “Hopefully, I can just replicate what I did that time and try to shut him down as best I can.”

One Spartan used to replicating stellar performances against Indiana is sophomore guard Gary Harris, who averages 22 points per game against the Hoosiers.

The Indiana native also lit the Hoosiers up with a career-high 26 points, but said after practice on Monday he never thinks about his past games during his rematches while facing Indiana.

Instead he will be focusing on the improvements Indiana has made since they squared off.

Despite losing to Northwestern by seven points on their home court over the weekend, Harris has seen the Hoosiers mature as a team during his film sessions.

“They look better as a team,” Harris said. “They were kind of a young team, but they’re getting more experienced in the middle of the Big Ten season, so now they know what to expect coming into the game.”

One of the young leaders on Indiana is sophomore Yogi Ferrell, who averages the conference’s third-highest point total at 17.4 points per game.

While he led Indiana in its upset win over then-No. 3 Wisconsin with 25 points, he fell flat and shot 2-for-14 from the field in the team’s disappointing loss against Northwestern.

Izzo put the poor performance in perspective with his own team, pointing out how important shutting down Ferrell is while facing the Hoosiers.

“The big thing that I saw that was wrong is if Gary Harris goes 2-for-15 or 2-for-14 or whatever (Yogi) Ferrell went, I don’t think we would be too good either,” Izzo said. “Especially in their case with him.”