Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from heartbreaking loss at Indiana

Michigan State basketball struggled on the road once again, falling for the second time in their last three games against an average Indiana team.

Just like the Purdue game, Michigan State got off to a sluggish start on the road against Indiana on Thursday night, finishing with a 67-63 loss.

The Spartans got down 15 points in the first half before closing the gap to seven by halftime. In the second half, Michigan State caught fire a little bit and took a 3-point lead with about 10 minutes left but just couldn’t take advantage of Indiana’s empty possessions, letting the Hoosiers hang around for just too long.

In the end, Michigan State fumbled away a 3-point lead late in the game as the Hoosiers won this one by four to improve to 15-4 and knock the Spartans down to 14-5.

What’d we learn from Thursday night’s game at Indiana?

3. Gabe Brown is an X-factor

Following up a monster performance against Wisconsin where he didn’t miss a single shot, going 5-for-5 from the floor, Gabe Brown had another impressive game against Indiana.

While he was quiet for most of the first half, he caught fire late and finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He even played some solid defense, forcing some poor shots from Indiana with the shot clock running out.

Cassius Winston didn’t have the best first half of his life and was relatively quiet against the Hoosiers, so when that happens, guys like Brown need to step up and have big games. He did just that and while the Spartans were back-and-forth with the Hoosiers late, he was a consistent performer on both ends of the floor.

Michigan State can go far this season if Brown plays the way he’s capable.