“I just want to win the game,” Henry said.

MSU (10-9 overall, 4-9 overall) will enter the matchup without junior guard Foster Loyer, who has played a significant role in Head Coach Tom Izzo’s point guard rotation this season. Loyer has struggled with a left shoulder injury as of late, and Izzo shared on Thursday that the staff had decided to give Loyer a break for the next week.

“It’s too bad because that kid was so good on the bench the other day, he knew every call, every play,” Izzo said. “As I said he’s the best guard I’ve got for running the team. He knows everybody’s position.”

Sophomore guard Rocket Watts, who was also iffy against Purdue fighting off a “flu-bug,” should be back in full force on Saturday, Izzo said. 

Indiana sits at an even 7-7 in the Big Ten, with some significant wins in their left column. The Hoosiers beat No. 11 Iowa twice this season and they’ve taken it down to the wire against a top five Illinois team in early February.

IU is led by Trayce Jackson-Davis, who averages 19.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. 

Armaan Franklin is the team’s best three-point shooter with a .452 consistency mark. Franklin averages 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

As a team, IU will enter Saturday coming off a hot shooting performance against Minnesota on Wednesday. In their 82-72 win, the Hoosiers shot 57.8% overall and 58.3% from 3-point range, both of which are higher than MSU’s percentages in those categories in any game this season.  

The matchup will be the first of four for MSU over the next nine days, a lineup that includes a rescheduled game against Illinois. 

As for the Spartans, they’ll continue to try to overcome shooting struggles that have plagued them recently.

Henry still leads the team with 14.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds.