Nobody saw that coming. The analysts on College Gameday certainly didn’t, with Jay Williams picking against the school of his wife and daughter. The Breslin Center didn’t. The Indiana Daily Student Reporter I sat court side with, he didn’t see it coming either.
Michigan State was, at one point this week, a 15.5 point favorite over the Hoosiers. On the week of the Super Bowl, Michigan State reminds me of the Baltimore Colts team that was 18 point favorites over Joe Namath’s New York Jets. Instead of Broadway Joe, it was New Albany Romeo Saturday night, delivering the knockout blow in a 79-75 overtime victory for the Hoosiers.
This was an inexcusable loss, to a reeling Indiana team dealing with injuries that had mostly forgotten how to play basketball. After the Purdue loss, I wrote that the result that day at Mackey Arena was understandable, maybe even beneficial.
Not this game. This was a kick in the teeth. This was a rested team, with as many bodies available as they’re going to have for the remainder of the season, now that we know that junior guard Joshua Langford’s season is over. Sure, he would have helped, but he no longer can. Langford probably doesn’t change the fact that Indiana had 20 offensive rebounds Saturday night.
Indiana came out and played harder than Michigan State. Tom Izzo admitted after the game that he didn’t think the team had a good week of practice.
“I didn't do a very good job of getting my team ready to play. I knew it the way we practiced this week. That should fall on me, not them,” he said.
Blame is sort of not the point.
There may be a harsher reality at play here. Michigan State had largely exceeded expectations this season, with junior point guard Cassius Winston inciting big runs to take the heart out of opposing teams. That run never materialized Saturday night.
The conversation about any team in any sport is always centered around the current context. Everything is in the moment. What is this team on Feb. 2? For the first time this season, the questions might change in tenor.
When we look back on this team, or even if we pinpoint it to this game, we won’t remember the context that the game was played in. We will know Indiana’s final record and postseason destination, if any. We’ll know Michigan State’s.
Will we look at this as an unexplainable blip? Or something more sinister, from a Michigan State perspective?
Could this be a case of one mediocre team beating another mediocre team?
Friday afternoon, everyone agreed that the Big Ten was a two-horse race between the schools representing the Mitten and the Upper Peninsula. After Iowa ran U-M out of the building Friday night, and Indiana came to Breslin Center and took apart the Spartans Saturday night, that suddenly feels like a totally different era.
Last week, I thought I had a handle on what this Spartan team was.
Now, I’m not sure. And, judging from what Tom Izzo said postgame, neither is he.
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