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.

And in the second half, the Hoosiers had a hard time defending in the pick-and-pop game, as Kalin Lucas seemed to score at will off of high-post screens. Michigan State simply has more talent and experience at every position on the floor and took care of business on the road. This is what good teams do. Steve Lavin talked about this potentially being a trap game for the Spartans tonight, but that wasn’t the case, as they shot a ridiculous 59.3 percent from the floor — a season high.

IU also had one of their typical scoring droughts tonight, but it was — I think — the most extreme of the season: they went the final 10:16 without a bucket in the first half, and it took until the 17:01 mark in the second half until they finally hit one — a layup by Christian Watford. Total that up and it’s 13:15 of not putting the ball in the hole. We talk about low margin for error all the time with this team, but it reared its ugly head again tonight: you just can’t have a lapse like that against a team as skilled and experienced as Michigan State is and expect to have much of a fighting chance. The Hoosiers also only had a measly five assists to 16 turnovers, turnovers that led to 23 points for the Spartans.

But you know what? IU wasn’t really out of this game until late in the second half, and it’s because they shot a terrific 89.3 percent from the foul line, knocking down 25-of-28 attempts. Remember when this team couldn’t hit a free throw to save its life? When they didn’t score those last 10 minutes of the first half, they hit 13 free throws during that time frame instead. For the game, they dominated on the line, as Michigan State only had 10 attempts.

It’s a bit of an outlier, because Michigan State is usually pretty good at defensive free-throw rate. They entered tonight’s contest holding opponents to 27.6 percent on FTA/FGA, good for 13th in the country. Yet,  IU is also 80th in the country at getting to the line with a free-throw rate of 41.8 percent, so they deserve some credit for winning the free-throw battle tonight.

It’s another loss — IU’s seven straight.

But it’s a loss we can all feel better about. And for this moment in IU’s slow and steady climb to relevancy, I’ll take it.

BONUS FUN:

Maurice Creek got credited with a rebound tonight:

Thanks to reader VP for the e-mail on that.

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.

2. Kentucky (Assembly Hall, December 12, 12:00 PM, CBS): The Billy Gillispie era was short lived in Lexington and the Wildcats swung for the fences by hiring former Memphis coach John Calipari. The move paid immediate dividends as Calipari brought in the nation’s top recruiting class, highlighted by point guard John Wall and forward DeMarcus Cousins. Jodie Meeks opted for the NBA Draft, but forward Patrick Patterson returns to anchor the front court with Cousins and freshman Daniel Orton. Kentucky will be a consensus top five team nationally, but are there enough basketball’s to keep everybody happy?

1. Purdue (Mackey Arena, March 2/3/4, TBA, TBA): The rivalry between Indiana and Purdue will only become more heated as Tom Crean and Matt Painter battle for in-state recruits to build their programs. The Boilermakers figure to be in the race for the Big Ten regular season title and this late season test on the road could be the toughest of all for a young Indiana team. E’Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel and JuJuan Johnson should all compete for first team All-Big Ten honors and Chris Kramer returns for his final season in West Lafayette.

Just missed the cut: Ole Miss (Puerto Rico Coliseum, November 19, 5:00 PM, ESPN2); Pittsburgh (Madison Square Garden, December 8, 9:00 PM, ESPN); Ohio State (Value City Arena, January 6, 8:30 PM, BTN); Illinois (Assembly Hall, January 30, 2:00 PM, ESPN/ESPN2).

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.

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.

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.

Whatever it was, I was hooked, enraptured for the last ten minutes of this ballgame. It felt good, felt right. But as soon as Raymar Morgan did this with 27 seconds to go, that was just about it:

Sure, IU still had a legit shot to win, as the Hoosiers were only down four points. It was far from insurmountable. But this year’s feelings starting to creep in again. If they’d only shot better than 64 percent from the free-throw line, they’d be right in this still, or winning. If they only didn’t turn the ball over 22 times, they might be winning. If they only didn’t blow all those chances when MSU was missing shots and turning the ball over the last few minutes, they would certainly be winning this game.

But, as always with the 2008-09 incarnation of the Indiana Hoosiers, all the hustle, scrap and effort in the world can’t win you a basketball game if other components aren’t working in conjunction with all that.

But that will come next year. And I’ll be cursing at my TV right along with it. I can’t wait.

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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+ Senior night is players’ final chance to bid farewell {Indiana Daily Student}

+ Zach Osterman breaks down the improvement Kyle Taber has shown during his senior season {Indiana Daily Student}

+ The debut of the Terry Hutchens trivia challenge. Sorry boys and girls, no prizes. {Hoosiers Insider}

+ College basketball BlogPoll: Week 4. {CBS Sports}

+ Can Michigan State secure a No. 1 seed? {The Detroit News}

+ 25 years later, Michael Jordan still remembers UNC’s upset loss to IU in the 1984 NCAA East Regional. {USA Today}

+ Tipton senior and IU signee Derek Elston is shining in the spotlight. {Kokomo Tribune}

+ Brian Kernan writes that IU target Kyrie Irving may be the best player to ever play at St. Patrick’s. {NJ.com}

+ Jody Demling speculates that a commitment is forthcoming from Marquis Teague to Louisville. {CJ Recruiting Blog}

+ A scouting report on one of the top players in the 2010 class: Harrison Barnes. {Clone Chronicles}

Quotable: “I’m proud to have coached him, and I know we’ve got more time but when it is senior night you want to make sure that everyone understands. I’ve been demanding of him, as our whole staff has and I’ve been hard on him, as our whole staff has because we have always looked at him as being a very, very valuable part of what we are doing here. He has done that. I am proud of the way he has contributed, proud of the way he has continued to improve. And proud he is a part of Indiana Basketball.” – Tom Crean on Kyle Taber.

Here is the audio of Tom Crean’s appearance on the weekly Big Ten coaches teleconference, courtesy of the Big Ten Network:

Related:

• Tom Izzo teleconference audio
• Bo Ryan teleconference audio