Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from crucial win at Indiana

In need of a big win, Michigan State basketball went on the road to end a three-game losing streak to Indiana. What’d we learn from this one?

For a half, it looked like it was going to be “another one of those games” for Michigan State. The Spartans found themselves down 19-6 before they could even blink and fans were already taking to Twitter to moan and groan about the poor play and lack of readiness.

Michigan State battled back to pull within four at halftime.

But the second half started the same way the first did with Indiana pulling away and then something clicked with Michigan State. Whether it was just the right lineup combination or the team realizing “it’s do or die”, the Spartans just went off.

The Spartans caught fire and extended a second-half lead to 12 points before Indiana cut it down to four with under a minute left. Michigan State ultimately won by seven for its biggest road victory of the year (sorry, Duke).

What’d we learn from this critical victory?

3. Joey Hauser is really going through it

A “slump” doesn’t even begin to describe what Joey Hauser is struggling through. His body language is bad, he is struggling to even make the most routine plays and he has next to no confidence in his shot anymore. He’s a shell of himself from earlier in the season.

Earlier in the year, we talked about how Hauser could be “the guy” for the Spartan offense. He had the ability to score in bunches and when he got hot, there was almost no defending him.

That seems like it was 10 years ago.

Hauser had another bad game at Indiana off the bench with just four points on 2-of-7 shooting with one rebounds, three turnovers and a foul. He got bullied in the post and looked lost. His deep shots (0-for-3) weren’t even close.

Something’s going on with Joey and Tom Izzo needs to figure it out.