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Michigan State Bounces Back, 70-50, Over Indiana

JACK EBLING, Associated Press

EAST LANSING (AP) — Denzel Valentine and Branden Dawson bounced back after subpar games and helped Michigan State explode past Indiana 70-50 on Monday night.

Valentine scored 15 points, 11 more than in a double-overtime loss to Maryland last Tuesday, and Dawson added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Spartans (10-5, 1-1 Big Ten).

Michigan State raced to a 19-4 lead, went up 32-13 late in the first half and built a 30-point cushion with 13:13 to play. The Spartans were quicker at both ends of the court and had a 50-28 edge on the boards.

Kevin "Yogi" Farrell led the Hoosiers (11-4, 1-1) with 17 points and was his team's lone double-figure scorer. James Blackmon Jr., the league's No. 2 freshman scorer, had eight points and hit 1 of 14 shots from the floor.

Part of the difference for a Michigan State team that allowed 32 free throws after halftime against the Terrapins was an unexpected lineup change. Freshman Tum Tum Nairn Jr. got the call at point guard, with second-leading scorer Travis Trice sick and limited to 24 minutes off the bench.

Nairn, who hadn't scored a basket in seven games, went 3 for 5 from the field, didn't have a turnover and played excellent defense in 26 minutes. Trice was just 1 for 8 from the field but had seven assists and no turnovers.

Gavin Schilling had 10 points and nine rebounds, as the Spartans got 16 boards and four blocked shots from their centers. That domination inside helped Michigan State to hold Indiana to 28-percent shooting from the field and 21 percent beyond the arc.

The Hoosiers shot just 18 percent from the field and 9 percent on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. While the Spartans had assists on 12 of their first 15 baskets, Indiana had just eight assists all night.

A 29-16 deficit on the boards didn't help the Hoosiers, who never got closer than 16 points in the second half. Starters Troy Williams and Hanner Mosquera-Perea played just 17 and 10 minutes, respectively.

Michigan State couldn't afford to lose back-to-back Big Ten home games and the difference in energy and emotion was obvious. So was the Hoosiers' inability to rebound, run the court and run their offense before the game was lost.

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TIP-INS

Indiana: The Hoosiers came in shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range since the start of the 2010-11 season, the best mark among the power conferences. But in a frigid first half Monday, Indiana hit just 1 of 11 beyond the arc.

Michigan State: Branden Dawson entered the game as the Big Ten's No. 1 rebounder with 8.7 per game. With a brace on his fractured left wrist, the 6-foot-6 senior had seven boards in the first half and six in the second.

UP NEXT

Indiana hosts Ohio State Saturday.

Michigan State visits Iowa Thursday night.

 

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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