Thursday, March 28, 2024

At halftime MSU leads Indiana 36-17

Spartans look to rebound after shaky Big Ten start

January 5, 2015
<p>Senior forward/guard Branden Dawson shoots for a basket over Indiana forward Troy Williams and forward Emmitt Holt Jan. 5, 2015, during the game against Indiana at Breslin Center. At halftime, the Spartans were leading the hoosiers, 36-17. Erin Hampton/The State News</p>

Senior forward/guard Branden Dawson shoots for a basket over Indiana forward Troy Williams and forward Emmitt Holt Jan. 5, 2015, during the game against Indiana at Breslin Center. At halftime, the Spartans were leading the hoosiers, 36-17. Erin Hampton/The State News

Photo by Erin Hampton | The State News

After a less-than-ideal start to Big Ten season last week against Maryland, the men's basketball team looks as though it won't suffer the same fate against Indiana.

Behind strong rebounding and transition scoring, the Spartans lead the Hoosiers 36-17 at halftime. The Green and White held Indiana to 17.9 percent shooting, grabbed 12 offensive boards and scored 11 points off turnovers.

Junior guard Denzel Valentine and senior forward Branden Dawson each have eight points, and Dawson also has seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Freshman guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn, who got the start over senior guard Travis Trice, sunk his first jumper of the season early in the first half. He found junior guard Bryn Forbes on the wing for a 3-pointer a few possessions later to give the Spartans a 9-2 lead.

The Spartans were sharp defensively, holding Indiana to 2-of-14 shooting through the first two media timeouts.

Indiana junior guard Yogi Ferrell, pestered by Nairn throughout the half, made his first bucket at the 12:40 mark to snap a 12-0 MSU run.

Freshman forward Marvin Clark Jr. entered the game midway through the half and immediately made his presence felt, grabbing two offensive rebounds to set up a layup by Valentine, and sinking a jumper on the following possession to give the Spartans a 17-4 lead.

Trice lobbed to sophomore forward Gavin Schilling in transition for a highlight-reel dunk on MSU's next offensive possession to push the lead to 15.

Indiana whistled a timeout to silence the crowd and reeled off seven consecutive points before a free throw by Trice. Forbes drained his second 3-pointer on the next possession to push the lead back to double digits.

After a score from Indiana freshman forward Emmit Holt, the Spartans completed a sequence that might have put the game away for good. Dawson dunked the ball in transition, and Valentine followed a corner miss from Trice with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Dawson stole the ball and completed an even louder fastbreak dunk to give the Spartans a 30-15 lead with 4:06 left in the half.

Indiana snapped MSU's 9-0 run with a pair of free throws from Blackmon Jr., but it didn't matter as Valentine found Dawson for a lob a few seconds later. The lob came out of a half court set, a rare sighting from a transition-happy MSU team.

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “At halftime MSU leads Indiana 36-17” on social media.