Going up against an Indiana team that's near the top of the Big Ten in effective field goals percentage, Michigan State's defense more than held its own, holding their opponent to 20-59 (34%) from the field and 5-21 (24%) from deep. The Spartans also out-rebounded the Hoosiers by a five-board margin, 39-34.

Junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis got Indiana on the board first with a layup over senior center Marcus Bingham Jr., but neither team shot the ball all that well to start the game.  Michigan State and Indiana shot a combined 31.7% from the field in the opening 10 minutes, more of a credit to the aggressive defense both teams exhibited than a lack of bad looks or poor shots. 

With that ever-present style of play, it didn’t take long for the game to develop another depth of its own. The affair was littered with personal exchanges along the way, be it a tense talk between Hoggard and senior forward Miller Kopp or Bingham pulling Hall back after trading some terse words with freshman guard Tamar Bates after a foul in the paint. Such chippiness brought on an inordinate number of fouls, one that Michigan State took full advantage of with an 88.9% (16-18) make rate from the line in the first half. 

After grinding out a physical start, Michigan State took its first lead of the game after a pair of Hoggard free throws, and the Spartans started to back Indiana up to the ropes with a three from redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser after his offensive board gave the Spartans that shot. Michigan State held off Thompson’s attempt in the paint on the subsequent possession and, after Thompson and junior forward Julius Marble II collapsed on the floor for a rebound in front of Michigan State’s bench, Indiana’s forward picked up a foul, and the crowd surged in excitement. 

Michigan State pushed the lead up to double digits following four free throws from Hoggard (team-high 11 points in the first half), but the same physicality that had turned the game into a slugfest continued, with Indiana refusing to concede anything. Down by eight, Thompson blocked a three from freshman guard Max Christie, and Bates stole the ball after a brief recovery, kicking off Michigan State’s coldest stretch of the opening period.  

Throughout a three-plus minute scoring drought, Jackson-Davis and his presence in the paint buoyed his team as he whittled the lead to four with a jumper in the paint. Indiana failed to capitalize further after fifth-year guard Parker Stewart missed a pair of free throws following a technical foul, but Stewart made sure to get the Hoosiers within one with his first three of the day, capping off a 9-0 run bolstered by three ill-timed turnovers by the Spartans in that same stretch. 

Hauser broke the Spartans out of their drought with a pair of free throws and kicked the lead up to three, but Bates tied it up and returned the lead to Indiana with back-to-back threes that sucked the air out of the Breslin. Starting to back up to the ropes themselves, Michigan State needed an answer — one it promptly got from its co-captain. 

Firmly in the mix of an emotionally charged start, Hall drilled a corner three that gave them some separation and was pulled down by sophomore forward Jordan Geronimo in the paint at the end of the following possession from the Hoosiers. His initial foul was rescinded after a lengthy review, and Geronimo picking up a flagrant instead, leading to two made free throws that gave Michigan State the 37-30 lead heading into halftime. 

It didn’t take long for Indiana to pick up where they left off, rattling off an 8-0 run to start the second half with a floater from Thompson to put them right back in the lead after. Hall went right back to answering the call as well, opening up the scoring for Michigan State in the first half and giving them the 40-38 lead with a three. 

Thompson fired back with a rare made three of his own, but the true highlight of the half came when Brown lobbed it to Hall, leading to an alley-oop dunk that electrified the Breslin. Hall’s effect on the game and confidence only grew as time went on, and it worked to be the stabilizing for a team looking to close out strong. 

A technical called on Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson led to two free throws from Christie, and the hits kept coming as Michigan State started to flow. Five straight points from Walker pushed the Spartans’ lead back up to 10, and Indiana stayed down around that number as Michigan State’s defense got in a groove of its own.

Up 68-57 with four minutes to go, Hoggard picked up his second technical and was ejected from the contest. His absence didn’t deter his team, or his backup, as Walker played the role of closer well, nailing a three with a minute left to secure the responsive 76-60 win for his team.