BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — MSU men's basketball (12-7, 4-2 Big Ten) trails Indiana (13-6, 3-3 Big Ten) 44-30 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
With the snow melted and the weather outside quite warm, MSU and IU started off red-hot shooting from the field. Shooting 3-for-5 from the field before the first media timeout, MSU had jumped past the Hoosiers with two 3-point baskets from junior guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. and freshman forward Miles Bridges.
However, as the Spartans rose, they fell hard by the hands of Hoosiers junior guard James Blackmon Jr. With 12:11 left in the first half, Blackmon made Spartan heads dizzy and ankles broken on his way to a 5-for-5 start from the field with three 3-point baskets for 13 points. As a team, the Hoosiers would make their first six 3-pointers, 7-for-14 for the half.
Frustrating for the Spartans, fifth-year senior guard Eron Harris and freshman forward Nick Ward efficiently converted on basket after basket, but the Hoosiers would overpower MSU on the other end. Although the Spartans shot the ball well for most of the first half, IU was turning turnovers into easy points. On eight MSU turnovers, the Hoosiers scored 15 points.
Nairn and freshman guard Cassius Winston, the two leading assist men for MSU struggled to find open Spartans for easy baskets. As a team, the Spartans only had four assists off of 11 baskets. Nairn and Winston would both have zero.
First Half Stat Leaders:
MSU
Points - Harris (11)
Rebounds - Bridges (4)
Assists - Bridges and Harris (2)
Indiana
Points - Blackmon (18)
Rebounds - McRoberts (4)
Assists - Newkirk (3)
Follow along with The State News for more MSU men's basketball coverage. Also, follow our basketball writers, Connor Clark and Casey Harrison, on Twitter or The State News Live Blog for updated information as MSU takes on Indiana University.
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