Quick Reaction: Indiana men’s basketball loses at Michigan State 81-60

Quick Reaction: Indiana men’s basketball loses at Michigan State 81-60Story byColin LaveryWed, January 14, 2026 at 2:31 AM UTC·2 min read

With just over 11 minutes left to play in the second half, Indiana had put itself in fantastic position for its first statement win of the season. On the road at the Breslin Center, facing a top 15 opponent, the Hoosiers were tied at 53, having fought back from several smaller deficits over the first 30 minutes.

From that point on, Indiana would be outscored 28-7, resulting in the worst loss of the Darian DeVries era at Indiana.

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There were a number of things that went wrong, starting with Indiana’s poor shooting performance. The Hoosiers went 10-31 from 3-point range, well below its season average of 36.3% from deep.

Entering tonight, Darian DeVries had never lost a game at Indiana by more than 12 points, in part because he could rely on his team’s ability to generate points in the paint with good off-ball movement and passing. Tonight, the Hoosiers got just 22 of their 60 points in the paint.

Recently, Indiana had also been able to compensate for its smaller roster with good team rebounding and defense. That was not the case against Michigan State, as the Spartans out-rebounded Indiana 37-19.

East Lansing is a tough place to play, especially when Tom Izzo has a team as good as this current squad on his hands. Being held scoreless for nearly seven minutes of game time is not something that can be explained by the Izzone, though, and Indiana’s second half collapse will be a cause for concern to Indiana fans.

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Lamar Wilkerson led all Indiana scorers with 19 points, the only Hoosier of eight who played tonight to break double digits. Meanwhile, Jeremy Fears Jr., MSU’s leading scorer, had 19 in the first half alone.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that Indiana was able to limit Fears Jr. to just four points in the second half. The adjustment would have been notable had it not been for the rest of the defense collapsing over the final ten minutes.

Overall, this is one DeVries and company will have to move on from quickly with Iowa coming to town this Saturday. At 3-3 in Big Ten play and 12-5 overall, it’s a game that’s starting to feel more important to an Indiana team on a two-game losing streak.

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