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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Raymar Morgan returns to East Lansing for his junior season as arguably the top returning player in the conference. (Sorry Robbie Hummel.) Morgan was a second team All-Big Ten selection last season and averaged 14 points and six rebounds for a team that reached the Sweet Sixteen and then ran into Derrick Rose.

With the departure of the inconsistent Drew Neitzel, Tom Izzo will now rely on Morgan to be his go-to-guy and he should thrive in that role. According to Izzo, Morgan worked tirelessly on the one major hole in his game, the three-point shot, during the offseason. If he can consistently hit from outside, he becomes a huge matchup problem.

Ultimately, the player of the year in the conference probably comes down to Morgan and Hummel and I’m giving Morgan the nod because I think Morgan is the more complete player and I like the Spartans to win the Big Ten.

After 40 minutes against the Michigan State Spartans, the Hoosiers all but eliminated themselves from contention. Tom Izzo’s club led 59-31 at halftime and cruised to a 103-74 win on senior day.

Raymar Morgan led the Spartans (23-6, 11-5 Big Ten) with 20 points and Drew Neitzel and Goran Suton added 17 points each.

Michigan State shot 78 percent from the field in the first half, including 9 of 12 from beyond the three-point line. The Hoosiers (24-5, 13-3), on the other hand, shot just 35 percent in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, Indiana got within 17 at 75-58 before Michigan State pulled away down the stretch. The Spartans led by 32 at one point.

Eric Gordon’s 22 points paced the Hoosiers and D.J. White posted his 18th double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Armon Bassett added 13 points and Jordan Crawford had 12.

The loss was the 14th straight at the Breslin Center for Indiana.

Minnesota will visit Assembly Hall on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as the Hoosiers wrap up their home schedule.

Related:

• Box score
• Postgame quotes
• A step or two behind (Indianapolis Star)
• Michigan State beats Indiana 103-74 (AP recap)

This is the last of these little previews that none of you comment on. We’ve been through the Big Ten from top to bottom, from Northwestern to Minnesota, and back. And it’s taken us until the last day of the previews to get to the one elite team outside Indiana in all the conference, Michigan State. How bad is the Big Ten this year?

Anyway, if there is an elite team in the Big Ten, it’s Sparty. (The Hoosiers are probably one rung below just yet, but we’ll get to that later.) Right now, Michigan State is the consensus favorite to win the conference, and with good reason: The Spartans are a well-coached batch of veteran players highlighted by strong, efficient guard play from a senior preseason All-American. Drew Neitzel is the glue that holds Michigan State together, a consummate point guard with the ability to score and distribute. Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan has been more impressive thus far this season, trailing Neitzel in minutes but scoring three more points (17) and grabbing seven rebounds a game. Morgan appears to have turned the corner from “potentially great post player” to “great post player” in the matter of two years; who knows what will happen if he continues to improve.

Michigan State plays a slow, methodical pace, but they do so to their own advantage. Their 67 possessions a game is good for 212th-fastest in the country, accounting for their seemingly apt defensive performance; but the real story is that the Spartans prefer to grind out games in the half court with the ball in Neitzel’s hands. So far, that approach has worked: MSU has quality wins over Texas, BYU, Bradley, and N.C. State, and a narrow loss to No. 2 UCLA.

The Bottom Line: Tom Izzo’s teams usually improve toward the end of the year, but this year, the Spartans already looked primed for a deep March run. That makes them, alongside IU, the prohibitive favorite to win the Big Ten and one of two elite teams in the conference. At the end of the season, we’ll see if the Hoosiers can’t lay sole claim to that two-team race, or if the Spartans will edge them out for the conference crown. Most of you Hoosier fans will say that’s madness, but this isn’t madness … THIS IS SPARTA! RARRRR!!!!

(Egregious 300 quote over … now.)

Read the rest of our Big Ten Preview:

• Ohio State
• Minnesota
• Penn State
• Michigan
• Iowa
• Northwestern
• Purdue
• Illinois
• Wisconsin

Michigan State has been selected as the preseason Big Ten favorite for the 2007-08 men’s basketball season, as voted upon by a 22-member media panel. Indiana and defending Big Ten Champion Ohio State are ranked second and third, respectively. In addition, Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel was named the Preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the Preseason All-Big Ten Team by Illinois’ Shaun Pruitt, Indiana’s D.J. White, Ohio State’s Jamar Butler and Penn State’s Geary Claxton.

The preseason All-Big Ten team that I did over the summer was nearly identical to the one selected by the media. The only difference was that I had Raymar Morgan in place of Pruitt. I also had Neitzel as the player of the year with D.J. a close second.

As far as the order of finish in the conference, you can make a case for Michigan State or Indiana. Everyone else is playing for third.

Steve Grinczel, a Michigan State beat writer, gave us an excellent breakdown of the Spartans a few months back. If, and it’s a big if, Tom Izzo can find consistency in the frontcourt, I would also give the nod to Neitzel and Co. However, considering the options up front are Goran Suton, Marquise Gray, Drew Naymick, Idong Ibok and Tom Herzog, I would say consistency from that group is a longshot. Gray is an effective player when his head is in the game and the rest of the gang is relatively unproven (or not any good) sans Suton.

So, who do you have to win the conference? Player of the year? Surprise team? Coach of the year? Newcomer of the year? Let’s hear your thoughts.

Inside the Hall: With Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan returning and a solid incoming freshman class, what are the expectations going to be like this year in East Lansing?

Steve Grinczel: While MSU has had some terrific NBA-caliber talent and experience come through the tunnel in recent seasons, the most the program seemed to generate is a hopeful hum. That said, I expect a buzz that’s been conspicuous by its absence in recent years will be back in 2007-08. To some, the Spartans are building toward a run to the Final Four that will be played in Detroit in 2009. However, Neitzel’s reputation for not being denied preceded him to East Lansing and as a senior he’s down to his final season of eligibility. This is a payoff year for him, and I’m certain he’s expecting nothing less than leading MSU to its first Big Ten title since ‘01 and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Neitzel has the credentials as a scorer and set-up man to justify likely preseason All-America honors. And, the backcourt should be as good as any in the country with point guard Travis Walton establishing himself as a lock-down defender. Morgan showed why he’s considered a special player during his injury-slowed freshman season and should make a big jump with a year under his belt.

Goran Suton and Marquise Gray struggled to find consistency in the frontcourt, but should have ironed out those problems with experience. I look for lanky 7-foot Tom Herzog, who redshirted last season as a freshman, to be the surprise player of the Big Ten. A true postman who likes to play with his back to the basket, his skills and athleticism defy the first impression of being ungainly. Then there’s senior Drew Naymick, whose breakout second-half-of-the-season was critical to the Spartans’ 10th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

A lack of depth forced Coach Tom Izzo to go against everything he holds near and dear and slow things down last season. With three athletic freshmen coming in, MSU will be back to its withering, up-tempo game. All-in-all, things are falling back into place for the Spartans.

ITH: Tom Izzo is rumored to be a candidate for a vacant coaching position every off-season. Do you see him finishing his coaching career with Michigan State?

Grinczel: I see him finishing only a chapter of his career at MSU in the not-too-distant future. Anybody who knows Izzo knows he’s all about “the experience.” That’s why over the years he’s played games in every hallowed gymnasium — from Cameron Indoor to Rupp Arena to the Smith Center to Allen Fieldhouse to Pauley Pavillion — in the nation. That’s why he jumped at a chance to play at Wisconsin-Green Bay a couple of seasons ago. He took the players on a tour of Lambeau Field, and when it began to snow, almost on cue, those goose bumps weren’t because the Upper Peninsula native was chilled.

Izzo is all about making memories, and he doesn’t exclude himself from that process. If he can make a few more at the collegiate level in the next few years it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he jumps at a chance — that’s right for him and his family — to coach the game at its highest level. And, he clearly enjoys being a talking head when given the opportunity by CBS and ESPN.

ITH: Let’s talk a bit about Drew Neitzel. By my estimation, he’ll be one of the favorites for Big Ten Player of the Year. I’ve been impressed with how much he’s improved over the past few seasons. What’s the biggest reason for his metamorphosis from a role player into an All-Conference star?

Grinczel: First and foremost, he’s an indefatigable gym rat that shoots with either paw – er, hand — at that. And, in keeping with this Noah’s Ark theme, he’s also a bit of a chameleon. He came to MSU as Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, an undeserving one in some views. But with three future NBA players on the team, Izzo didn’t need Neitzel to be a star so he excelled as a role player even though he was the team’s best outside shooter all the while. Last year, when Izzo desperately needed a scorer, Neitzel defied everybody who thought opponents would nullify him with their best defender and double-teams by simply outworking everybody on the floor from start to finish. Simply put, he’s a painstaking student of the game who gains a step with knowledge. And, he’s a much better defender than Izzo ever expected.

ITH: On paper, it looks like an outstanding recruiting class coming in for the Spartans. Tell us a little bit about each player and the impact they’ll have.

Grinczel: Chris Allen (6-3, 190) has continued to turn heads since signing his letter-of-intent. Former Spartan All-American Steve Smith was the latest to be wowed by his advanced all-around game this summer. Kalin Lucas (6-0, 165) is a ready-made college point guard and Durrell Summers (6-5, 195) has the speed and athleticism Izzo loves on the wing.

As a group, they will be expected to come in and contribute minutes right away so Neitzel and Walton won’t evaporate from overuse. Most importantly, all three have high basketball I.Q.s because Izzo is counting on them to assimilate his playbook, which is the size of the Manhattan phone book, rather quickly. Izzo wants to get back to running every chance MSU gets, even after made baskets, and these three jets will make that possible in spite of their youth.

ITH: We realize it’s only August, but give me your top 3 teams in the Big Ten when it’s all said in done next March.

Grinczel: Oh man, I haven’t even figured out Big Ten football yet, but here goes:

1. Michigan State
2. Indiana
3. Wisconsin

For the next five weeks, we’ll reveal one player from our preseason All-Big Ten team. This portion of the preview will culminate on August 27, when we reveal our pick for Big Ten Player of the Year.

Now, onto the festivities.

This first selection was really a no-brainer, Raymar Morgan of Michigan State. Morgan was a member of last year’s Big Ten All-Freshman team as selected by the league coaches.

He was the second leading scorer for the Spartans, averaging 11.7 points per contest. This summer, he played with the USA Basketball 19-and-under World Championship team that captured a Silver Medal in Serbia.

Pairing Morgan with Drew Neitzel, Travis Walton, Marquise Gray and their stacked incoming freshman class will surely have Spartan fans thinking Big Ten title.

The best thing about Morgan’s game is his versatility. While not a great shooter from beyond the arc (he only hit five threes last season), the 6′7″, 220 pound forward possesses a nice stroke from 15 to 18 feet.

What makes him most dangerous is that he attacks the basket relentlessly. When he gets all the way to the rim, he can finish with the best of them. He’s a tough matchup because he can shoot over smaller defenders and drive right around defenders his size.

On the defensive side of the ball, he’s a workhorse than can defend any position. This is probably what Coach Tom Izzo appreciates about him the most.

So there you have it, we’re off and running with our All-Big Ten preview. We’ll continue the preview next week when we reveal the second piece of our All-Big Ten team.