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Film Session: Michigan State’s 20-0 run

by in Film Session | December 29th, 2011

After Indiana took a nine-point lead at the 11:07 mark in the second half, Michigan State ripped off a 20-0 run and was suddenly up 11 with 5:11 to go. That was about all the Spartans needed, as Indiana only got as close as eight once before losing by 15.

Michigan State turned up the defense and stymied Indiana in the halfcourt — something the Spartans also did in the first half to build their 18-point lead — and got some fastbreak points by turning some of that defense into offense.

A look at two of Michigan’s defensive efforts — as well as an Indiana defensive breakdown — during these crucial five minutes in the latest edition of Film Session:

1) SHOT CLOCK EXPIRES

Seventeen seconds have expired on the shot clock and the Hoosiers have yet to get anything going. Matt Roth looks for Cody Zeller down on the block, but he’s fronted by Adreian Payne:

Roth passes to Victor Oladipo, who also looks for Zeller, but isn’t able to get it into him:

Oladipo passes it to Christian Watford, who gives it back to Oladipo:

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Notebook: Zeller struggles, Watford reaches 1,000

by in Media | December 29th, 2011

Cody Zeller was bound to have one of these nights eventually.

The four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week entered Wednesday night averaging 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds — both leading the Hoosiers — but the Spartans held Zeller in check all night. He finished with four points and three rebounds in 23 minutes — all season-lows.

Welcome to Big Ten basketball.

Part of the issue was the four fouls he picked up, but most of the issue was the Spartan interior.

“They were very physical,” head coach Tom Crean said of MSU. “He’s not used to dealing with people that have that kind of size. The physical strength and weight they have at Michigan State, they’re a very physical team. … He’ll learn from it.”

Zeller will have to learn that everyone in the Big Ten is physical. Junior guard Jordan Hulls was confident Zeller would be able to move forward from the loss.

“The Big Ten is very physical,” Hulls said. “Things are going to happen. They know our gameplan really well, we know their gameplan really well. It’s just a learning experience. He’s going to learn. He’s fine.”

RUNNING AND GUNNING

They say basketball is a game of runs. Wednesday night’s game saw two of the bigger runs you’ll ever see in a Big Ten game.

From 4:48 left in the first half to 14:49 left in the second, the Hoosiers went on a 25-2 run, turning a 34-16 deficit into a 41-36 lead.

But after Indiana took a 54-45 lead, the Spartans went on a 20-0 run in just over six minutes, grabbing a double-digit lead. They finished the game on a 35-11 run.

“It’s just Big Ten basketball,” junior forward Christian Watford said. “ I knew coming in, being a veteran guy, I kind of expected those things. It’s a learning process. We’re going to move forward from it. … We just didn’t get enough defensive stops and it led to some easy buckets for them, and once they got rolling, it was kind of hard to stop them.”

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HD Video: Tom Crean on loss at Michigan State

by in Video | December 28th, 2011

Tom Crean met with the media following Indiana’s 80-65 loss at Michigan State on Wednesday night. Watch and listen to the entire press conference in high-definition quality in the embedded media player below:

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The Minute After: Michigan State

by in The Minute After | December 28th, 2011

Thoughts on Indiana’s 80-65 loss to Michigan State:

Welcome to life on the road in the Big Ten against a strong defense.

What has come so easy for the Hoosiers on offense this season crumbled for long stretches up in East Lansing this evening.

Michigan State’s defense took the Hoosiers out of their comfort zone early. Their length and on-ball defense didn’t allow Indiana any breathing room. The Spartans were blocking mid-range and perimeter shots. The Hoosiers were unable to drive, unable to get the ball inside to Cody Zeller with MSU’s hands stretched high and Adreian Payne fronting and bodying the freshman.

But this was a wild one with violent swings.

Indiana proceeded to go on a 25-2 run on the strength of defense, some transition buckets and 3-pointers. After knocking down a lot of shots in the first half, Michigan State didn’t score its first of the second half — a jumper by Draymond Green — until the 14:49 mark. Indiana, and specifically Christian Watford, was snagging every rebound in sight. With 11:07 to go, Watford hit a 3-pointer, and the Hoosiers were up nine. The Izzone was out of it; Indiana was flying high.

But then it started to slip away. Michigan State’s D turned it up again. And Indiana’s offense went back to struggling to get anything going in the half court. It was passes around the perimeter as the shot clock ticked away. Derek Elston came into the game. He drew only backboard on a shot, committed a foul and turned the ball over. He was promptly yanked.

And then the Spartans started dominating the inside. Derrick Nix was stellar off the bench, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He had his way with Zeller. Payne got his buckets over the final minutes, too. And combo guard freshman sophomore Keith Appling was sensational on both sides of the ball — he had an incredible block on a Victor Oladipo fast-break lay-up — in what ended on a 35-11 run by the Spartans to close this one out. Peep this line for Appling: 25 points (7-of-12, 2-of-4 from three, 9-of-10 from the line), seven assists and six rebounds.

This one was closer than the 15-point spread it ended up at. Indiana showed much resolve in punching back and going up nine. But alas, it was a 16th straight road loss in the Big Ten for the Hoosiers. They’re now 1-27 on the road in conference play under Tom Crean.

And things don’t get any easier with the Buckeyes coming to Bloomington on Saturday. Big Ten basketball is back. And it’s unforgiving.

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Live Discussion: Indiana at Michigan State

by in Game Threads | December 28th, 2011

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Pick to Click: Michigan State

by in Pick to Click | December 28th, 2011

For those unfamiliar with the Pick to Click, you can read the ground rules and how it all works at this link.

This year’s contest will include all eighteen Big Ten games and a prize ($100 gift certificate to Amazon.com) will be awarded to the overall winner.

As was the case last season, rather than giving free reign on who you’re able to pick, we’re instituting a pool system. Each game, there will be a pool of players to select from. This is being done to prevent picking the same player each game, which became a problem in previous seasons.

Pool for Michigan State: Christian Watford, Cody Zeller, Jordan Hulls, Remy Abell, Verdell Jones, Victor Oladipo

A few other things to remember:

– Please make sure you are using a valid e-mail address if you are not registered.
– Please make sure you are using the same name each time to pick if you are not registered. Once the contest begins, we’ll be tracking wins by the name you use to submit your pick. If your name changes on a game-to-game basis, credit for your pick will be given to the name used to submit the pick.
– Please state who you are picking as the first thing in your comment. We could potentially have a couple of hundred picks per game. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone’s pick if it’s not the first thing in your comment.

Picks are due by 7:15 PM ET tonight. If you’re interested in helping us keep score in the contest, please drop us an email at insidethehall@gmail.com.

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