The Spartans greatly increased their chances of seeing a 23rd straight NCAA Tournament by toppling over Associated Press-ranked No. 5 (now No. 4) Illinois and No. 4 (now No. 7) Ohio State last week. However, a road loss to Maryland Sunday afternoon broke the Spartan win streak and put their momentum in jeopardy.

The loss to Maryland came after the Spartan's shooting woes rejoined the equation. MSU put up 28 shots from the three-point range, a number greater than the amount they shot against Illinois and OSU combined.

Many of those shots fell short, as the team admittedly struggled from the fatigue of playing three games in the span of one week.

"Write it however you want it, but that team (Maryland) gets seven days off and we get these games the way we've had and it was a factor," head coach Tom Izzo said. "The only thing that bothered me was, I wouldn't have minded it as the game went on we dragged down, but when the game started we dragged down, we got down 11-0, and really that's the way the game stayed."

And although it played a factor, junior forward Aaron Henry was sure to clarify that the team's fatigue wasn't an excuse, especially around this time of year.

"Whether you're tired or not, it doesn't matter, we're playing for a lot," Henry said. "I've played in March before, I understand what it takes. At this time everyone's around the country legs are tired just from the duration of the season, and I'll never use that as an excuse, no matter how I feel."

Indiana will enter the Breslin Center off of just two days of rest after hosting No. 3 (now No. 2) Michigan on Saturday.

The last time MSU and Indiana met was on the floor in Bloomington. It resulted in a 78-71 Spartan victory that got the ball rolling in MSU's late-season surge. In that matchup, Henry and Joshua Langford scored a combined 28 points to lead the MSU to the win.

Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a whopping 34 points, but by shutting down most other productions from the Hoosiers, Michigan State's defense kept them competitive.

Since that matchup, Indiana has fallen to both Rutgers and Michigan.

The Spartans will continue entering the matchup with a "one day at a time" mentality, being sure not to let the question mark known as the NCAA Tournament fog their view of the court.

"A lot of times if you go out there thinking about what's on the line and what's at stake, it kind of hinges you as a player, it's like paralysis by analysis," Langford said. "We just have to go out there and control what we can control."