My Two Cents: Indiana Has Been Hot, Can They Stay Hot?

Indiana has looked great in double-digits wins over Wisconsin and Illinois, but Michigan State brings new challenges on Sunday at Assembly Hall. Are the Hoosiers up to it? My pregame column.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana has really looked good this past week, posting double-digit wins against Wisconsin and Illinois to work its way back into the Big Ten conversation after a 1-4 start.

Trayce Jackson-Davis has been a beast, benefiting greatly from some weird coaching decisions, especially at Illinois where coach Brad Underwood chose to single-cover him the whole game.

His answer? Just 35 points, the most he's ever scored in a Big Ten game.

And now comes Michigan State on Sunday here at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and all's well, right?

As my friend Lee Corso would say, ''not so fast, my friend.''

Sure, the Hoosiers — and Hoosier Nation — are all feeling good again. But this is Michigan State, and this is Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo. And if you think he's going to single-cover Jackson-Davis, then you'd be wrong. I can tell you now that he's going to make the four other Hoosiers on the floor beat them.

We haven't seen that urgent need in a while, and we haven't see the others take over a game in a long time, either. On Sunday, I've got a strong feeling that has to happen for Indiana to keep winning.

Indiana has really missed starters Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson, though it appears Thompson is close to coming back. He was in uniform and warming up prior to the game, and he's dressed and ready to go just before tip. He's been out since Jan. 4 with an MCL sprain. Johnson is still several weeks away.

Michigan State is dealing with injuries, too, and will play without forward Malik Hall, who's out for the second time this season with a foot injury. The Spartans are hoping he's back before the season ends, but there's no guarantee of that.

Izzo surely wishes he had him today, because it's fair to say that very few people have guarded Jackson-Davis better than Hall the past couple of years. With him out, Izzo will have to mix and match a lot on Sunday.

The relentless Big Ten schedule never cares about injuries, either, so both teams need to plow through the daily grind. Michigan State has three tough road games in the next four — at Indiana, Rutgers and Purdue — plus a home game against an Iowa team that had been red-hot before losing at Ohio State on Saturday. (To read Saturday's Big Ten Roundup, CLICK HERE)

Hall is Michigan State's best defensive player and he has done a good job in the past in making Trayce Jackson-Davis work hard for every point. The Spartans will miss him desperately on Sunday, because Jackson-Davis has been on fire. On Thursday night at Illinois, he went for 35 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the 80-65 upset win. He was only the second major-conference player to do that in a road game in the past two decades. Ben Simmons, the NBA All-Star who played one season at LSU, is the only other player to do it.

Michigan State is going to need to rely on a bevy of bodies to slow him down.  Mady Sissoko has the size — he's 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds like Jackson-Davis — but he can't come close to matching his foot speed. That will be a major question come Sunday.

The other options off the bench are young guys, freshmen centers Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. Kohler saw plenty of time in the 70-57 win over Rutgers on Thursday, and his first career double-double. Cooper is more of a project, and it might be asking a lot for him to bang heads with Jackson-Davis. Certainly, the edge goes to Indiana there. 

The key to Indiana winning this game lies with not letting Michigan State go off from the three-point line. Sure, these two recent impressive wins are nice, but I still remember that Penn State disaster well, the night Indiana got blown out after allowing 18 three-pointers.

Indiana's defense, better the last couple of games, was horrible before that during the three game losing streak where they gave up nearly 87 points a game. Indiana commits more fouls than any other team in the Big Ten (17.1 per game) and are second-worst in the conference in free throw attempts allowed per game (16.5). Michigan State shoots 75.8 percent from the foul line, so that's a recipe for disaster.

Indiana's three-point defense was dreadful in that ugly loss to Penn State, and Michigan State is capable of doing the same thing with A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker and others.. The Hoosiers need to stay locked in on defense, and not stray away from their dangerous perimeter shooters.

Indiana is allowing opponents to shoot 34.6 percent from three-point range on average, which is the third-worst mark in the Big Ten. Michigan State is shooting 37.8 percent from long range, third-best mark in the conference.

Again, not a good combination. I do think Indiana wins on Sunday, snapping a three-game losing streak to the Spartans, but to do that, they have to defend the three. Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trey Galloway, Miller Kopp and Tamar Bates have to be at their best defensively. There can be no blown assignments, or at least very few. Anything over eight made threes might be a problem.

In other words, this is more about just Trayce Jackson-Davis today. Others absolutely have to step up, or there will be trouble.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• HOW TO WATCH INDIANA VS. MICHIGAN STATE: Indiana basketball (12-6, 3-4) hosts the Michigan State Spartans (13-6, 5-3) on Sunday at Noon ET at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, three leading storylines, the latest on the point spread, the coaching matchup, series history and more. CLICK HERE
• MICHIGAN STATE PREPARING FOR JACKSON-DAVIS: Just 19 games into the season, Michigan State has faced a number of the country's top big men, including Purdue's Zach Edey, Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe, Gonzaga's Drew Timme and more. Next up is Trayce Jackson-Davis when Michigan State travels to Indiana on Sunday, a player Tom Izzo said has "sick athleticism." CLICK HERE
• OPENING LINE: Indiana has won two consecutive games thanks to some monster performances from senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, and the Hoosiers are back at home on Sunday for a huge Big Ten game with Michigan State. Here is the latest on the point spread, plus a thorough history of both teams against the spread this season. CLICK HERE