The Only Colors: Spartans Whistling By

The officials called a total of 43 personal fouls—26 of them on MSU. That was partially a function of Indiana being aggressive going toward the hoop, partially a function of the MSU players’ seeming inability to stop reaching for the ball, and partially a function of the officials calling things very tightly. There were several calls in both directions on which the offending defender (oxymoron?) appeared to get all ball.

Despite converting just 15 field goals in the game—and going a full 10 minutes to close the first half without hitting a shot from the field—Indiana managed to score over a point per possession (only 55 possessions in this game) by getting to the free throw line 28 times and knocking down almost 90% (25) of those shots. Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford were the main offensive instigators for IU; Jones scored 20 points on 11-12 FT shooting, Watford put up 14 on 6-8 FT shooting.