"Just getting away from some of the stuff and try to get out of the limelight and be one of the fellas, as Earvin Johnson used to say,” Izzo said. “Everybody just thought it would be the right situation. You don’t get many of these opportunities. … I think it’s going to work out well.”

Winston, who passed Mateen Cleaves for the all-time MSU assist record on Jan. 17, hasn’t played his best these past two games, and Izzo has acknowledged his superstar's struggles as of late. The Detroit native expressed gratitude towards Izzo for planning the weekend trip and excitement to spend the time away with his team.

“It should be a good time, especially if we handle business,” Winston said. “To go on the road stay, just see a couple things, to not travel back and forth as much and just stay solid and get ready to win some big games.”

Although Winston’s struggles were a major factor in the Spartans' 71-42 loss at Purdue, against Wisconsin, Winston’s little contribution allowed for other Spartans to shine through. Development across the roster was noted as something Izzo has seen during practice the past two weeks and is something the team will look to utilize as they enter a part of their schedule that is dominated by games on the road.

“We've got a couple of days to prepare for this week, we've had some good practices and that's been really good,” Izzo said, according to a release from the university's athletics website. “I think we're getting better play out of Gabe (Brown), Aaron (Henry) and a lot better play out of Rocket (Watts), which has been a big positive. But the league right now is so good and we're still in a place right now where some teams have played four or five home games and some teams have only played two or three.”

In the Big Ten, home teams are 41-7, so as the Spartans prepare for takeoff on the road, they have to expect some adversity to threaten their first-place standing. However, as Izzo mentioned, sophomore forward Gabe Brown shot a perfect night against Wisconsin and freshman guard Rocket Watts has almost doubled his shooting percentage in his last six games as compared to how he started his season off, giving more hope across a Spartan roster that was once overwhelmed with little maturity.

As for sophomore Aaron Henry, he struggled early on but has since shown more confidence with his abilities on the court. Henry, who is from Indianapolis, said going back home for the game at Indiana doesn’t have much of an impact on how important the win is to him as compared to other games.

“The most important thing on my mind is getting the win on the road," Henry said. "It’s a huge week for us and coaches have emphasized that a lot. I just want to get the win for our team rather than me worrying about going back home.”

With about two weeks of practice under their belts, the Spartans will begin a part of their season dominated by road games, which, according to Izzo, will be a major deciding factor for where exactly his squad stands.

“We're looking at this kind of like a separation week one way or the other,” Izzo said, according to the release. “We're either going to win some games and separate ourselves, or we're going to lose some games and not separate ourselves and I think that's going to give us a better indication.”