FINAL SCORE: 72-58 | Box score

We feeling better out there, guys?

Sure, IU got murdered this evening. But all the worries about this team in recent days, that they were lacking effort and hustle and heart and resolve wasn’t the case tonight. They took some charges. When absolutely everything was going Michigan State’s way, they found a way to stay in the game with an almost perfect night at the free-throw line. They trapped and defended their tails off in the final minutes of the game when a win was far out of reach.

They looked more like the scrappy, hard-working underdogs tonight than the team that wasn’t even showing up.

That being said, this evening was a rough one.

IU’s lack of size was exploited time and again. The Spartans pumped in the points inside — 40 of their 72 points came in the paint — and stymied the Hoosiers around the basket on the offensive end — IU only had eight points in the paint this evening, and that was a large reason why they shot so poorly — 34.9 percent — tonight; unless you are hot, hot, hot from the outside, it’s tough to shoot a high-percentage if you’re not also getting some bunnies in the paint. IU did win the rebounding battle tonight, as they snatched 30 (17 offensive) to the Spartans’  24 (11 offensive). But the Hoosiers are a solid offensive rebounding team to begin with, and when you miss so many shots, those offensive-rebounding opportunities present themselves more often.

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Get in your picks before 6:45 ET this evening.

Indiana released it’s 2009-2010 schedule earlier today and here’s a look at five of the toughest opponents on the docket.

5. Maryland (Assembly Hall, December 1, 7:30 PM, ESPN2): Senior guard Greivis Vasquez returns to lead a Terrapin team that went 21-14 a year ago, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and should be among the top 25 teams in the country. The Venezuela native averaged 17.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 5.0 apg as a junior and tested the NBA Draft waters before deciding to return. Besides Vasquez, Gary Williams returns three other starters. It will be the first trip for Maryland to Assembly Hall.

4. Michigan (Crisler Arena, January 14, 9:00 PM, ESPN/ESPN2): Year three of the John Beilein era in Ann Arbor could find the Wolverines square in the middle of the Big Ten race with Michigan State and Purdue. After winning one game in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, Beilein has the pieces in place to make a run deeper into March. The one-two punch of guard Manny Harris and forward DeShawn Sims is arguably the best in the conference and the supporting cast is strong with guards Laval Lucas-Perry, Stu Douglass and Zack Novak all returning.

3. Michigan State (Assembly Hall, February 16, 7:00 PM, ESPN): The Spartans knocked off a pair of No. 1 seeds in Connecticut and Louisville a year ago before falling to North Carolina in the national championship. Forward Goran Suton and guard Travis Walton are both gone, but Kalin Lucas returns as the front runner for Big Ten Player of the Year. Sprinkle in a healthy Delvon Roe with wings Durrell Summers and Chris Allen and the Spartans could be looking at Tom Izzo’s sixth Final Four appearance.

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Throughout the week, we’ll be running small capsules on the remaining Final Four teams, stating why they’ll win it all. Today: Michigan State.

Had I told you before the tournament that Michigan State would beat the No. 1 overall seed Louisville and do it easily, you likely would have called me crazy. But that’s exactly what happened last Sunday as the Big Ten regular season champs dismantled the hottest team in the country to reach Detroit.

There are several reasons to like the Spartans to win their third national championship. First, Tom Izzo gets it done in March. He’s 30-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and the Spartans typically peak down the stretch. This year is no exception. After head scratching home losses to Northwestern and Penn State, Michigan State has won 13 of 15. There’s something to be said for momentum.

Michigan State is also a balanced team. Five guys average eight points or more. If Kalin Lucas doesn’t beat you, Goran Suton will. If Chris Allen isn’t hitting from behind the arc, Durrell Summers or Korie Lucious will pick up the slack. It’s also unlikely the Spartans will hit the wall due to fatigue. Izzo carefully distributes the minutes for a perfectly balanced rotation. Only Lucas averages over 30 minutes.

And what I like most about the Spartans is the way they crash the boards. They’re grabbing 9.6 more rebounds per game than opponents. Which means they’re not allowing many second chance points. That will come in handy against Connecticut with Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, who can both control the paint. Combine a proven winner in March with a balanced rotation that pound the glass and what do you get? A national championship.

In a game that no one gave them a chance to win, Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans proved on Sunday afternoon why they’ve been the premier program in the Big Ten since the turn of the decade.

The Spartans throttled the overall No. 1 seed Louisville, 64-52, in a contest that was essentially a home game for the Cardinals. (Louisville is just 100 miles south of Indianapolis and its fans packed Lucas Oil Stadium.) The Final Four is the fifth for Michigan State in the last 11 seasons.

Michigan State ended Louisville’s 13-game winning streak and did it by rendering the Cardinals’ full court pressure ineffective. Izzo’s club never let Louisville turn up the pressure and committed just 12 turnovers.

As an Indiana fan, it’s not often that I express admiration for what’s happening at another program in the league, but credit should be given where credit is due. In a year where the national media annoited the Big East the greatest conference of all-time, Michigan State stood up and slayed its regular season and tournament champion. That, my friends, is worth our congratulations.

I have put little emotional investment into this Big Ten season. As the losses piled up, it was hard to. With so many turnovers and so much frustration, there came a point where you had to cut your losses and just ride this season out. Even when IU was able to get a win against Iowa, I wasn’t really that charged about it.

It’s not that I didn’t still watch, or didn’t still hope IU would win, it’s just that I didn’t find myself cursing out the TV every game, didn’t find myself hooting and hollering like I’d done so many times before.

Tonight was different. Tonight I cursed. Tonight I slapped my hands together and clapped. Tonight my heart skipped a few beats. This is what it’s supposed to be like; I had almost forgotten.

After Tom Izzo picked up that technical foul and MSU went on that ridiculous scoring drought, I believed. Believed IU had a legitimate shot at winning this game. We’ve been close countless times this season and I’ve thought the opposite. IU is bound to lose, IU will blow this, the Hoosiers are doing the same thing they always do: play hard and then watch it come crumbling down late in the game.

I’m not sure why I thought different tonight. Perhaps it was the dulcet tones of Steve Lavin and Brent Musburger. Perhaps it’s because I’m mentally to next season already, and an effort like this made me think the Hoosiers were already there.

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The script was set perfectly for Kyle Taber’s final game in Assembly Hall.

Family and friends ascended upon Bloomington to say farewell to the senior captain. Chants of ‘Ky-le Ta-ber’ were heard throughout Assembly Hall. And in a game in which IU was a heavy underdog, the Hoosiers had a chance to knock off a legitimate top ten opponent.

But alas, as has been the case throughout most of this season of transition for Indiana basketball, the Hoosiers couldn’t come up with a big play down the stretch. The final result: A hard fought 64-59 loss to Michigan State.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t come out right,” Taber said. “We battled and it was a great game. It was fun to be apart of something like that.”

Despite going 8:43 without a field goal in the second half, the Spartans (24-5, 14-3 Big Ten) clinched the Big Ten title outright for the first time since 1999.

Kalin Lucas scored 15 points to lead Michigan State and Raymar Morgan added 14 points, including a thunderous put back dunk with 27 seconds remaining to give MSU a four-point cushion.

The Hoosiers (6-23, 1-16) cut the lead to two on a pair of Nick Williams free throws with just under 16 seconds remaining, but Lucas answered with a pair of free throws to wrap up the victory.

“It was a great game. Our guys were in it the entire way, to the very end,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said.

Indiana missed eight free throws and several opportunities to tie the game after cutting Michigan State’s lead to two with 3:31 remaining.

Verdell Jones led four Hoosier scorers in double figures with 15 points. Malik Story and Williams added 11 each and Matt Roth had 10.

Taber finished with three points, five rebounds and two assists in his final home game.

“We went down with a fight,” IU’s lone senior added. “I’m proud of what my teammates were able to do for me.”

Up next: Indiana concludes the regular season with a 7PM ET matchup on Sunday at Wisconsin. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Bawa sighting: 7-0 signee Bawa Muniru was in attendance and Jared Poertner of the H-T/Hoosier Scoop talked to the big man.

• Box score
• Postgame Quotes
• Tom Crean Audio
• Malik Story Audio
• Kyle Taber Audio
• Verdell Jones Audio

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