Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana

TV/Radio: ESPN/Spartan Sports Network

Line: MSU -8.5

Saturday’s game against Indiana will be the first of the final five road games for No. 5 MSU (21-3, 9-2) to close regular season play. Nine of the team’s 24 games played have taken place away from the Breslin Center.

In their last road outing, the Spartans needed to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit against Maryland to edge out a six-point victory over the Terrapins. MSU needed to climb out of another double-digit hole three days later in its 76-68 win over Penn State on Wednesday, overcoming a 12-point second half deficit. 

Sophomore forward Miles Bridges, who leads the Spartans in scoring at just under 18 points per game, has scored 20 points or more in four of the team’s last five.

Indiana’s leading scorer, junior forward Juwan Morgan, has surpassed the 20-point mark in three of the Hoosiers’ last four. Morgan went 1-for-5 and scored two points in the two teams’ first meeting this season on Jan. 19. 

The two points for Morgan were the second-lowest point total in a game this season for the forward. The only game in which Morgan scored fewer was a Nov. 12 game against Howard, in which he went scoreless in five minutes of action.

After starting 4-2 in the Big Ten, Indiana has dropped four of its last five conference games, including a seven-point home loss to No. 3 Purdue, in which the Hoosiers out-shot the Boilermakers from the field, 50 percent to 48 percent.

MSU averages 84 points per game while shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, which is good for second best in the nation. Penn State puts up 72.1 points per contest while boasting a 45.6 overall shooting percentage.

Indiana leads the all-time series, 65-53. MSU is 6-4 in the teams’ last 10 meetings. 

Predictions:

Michael Duke: MSU 80 IU 72

Casey Harrison: MSU 72 IU 69