Following a lengthy holiday break, the Michigan State men's basketball team returned to action at the Breslin Center on Saturday, as the Spartans hosted Indiana State.

This marked just the second-ever meeting between the two programs, and the first since the 1979 NCAA championship game, which featured Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird.

Indiana State arrived to East Lansing with just one loss in 12 games played during the 2023-2024 season. The Sycamores would leave with a second loss on the campaign, however. Michigan State won by a final score of 87-75.

The win was the fourth in a row for MSU, as the Spartans improved their overall record to 8-5 this season. With the loss, Indiana State fell to 11-2 on the year.

The Spartans were without sophomore forward/center Jaxon Kohler — who is yet to play this season following foot surgery, but is expected to make a return soon — and freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. — who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois on Dec. 23 and is expected to miss significant time as he recovers. Both Kohler and Fears were with the team on Saturday.

The Spartans got off to a slow shooting start in this game before finding a groove.

Michigan State graduate senior guard Tyson Walker missed a jumper to begin the game, but graduate senior forward Malik Hall grabbed an offensive rebound and found senior point guard A.J. Hoggard for a 3-pointer for the first basket of the contest.

Indiana State immediately responded with a 3-pointer of its own, as junior guard Isaiah Swope buried a triple to tie the game at 3-3 in the very early going. Swope scored the next basket as well on a jumper to give the Sycamores a 5-3 lead with 18:04 play.

Following a layup by Hall, the score was tied 5-5 at the first media timeout with 15:53 left to play in the first half.

Michigan State made just two of its first eight shots before junior guard Jaden Akins converted an and-one play to put the Spartans up 8-5 with 15:38 remaining in the first half.

Sophomore center Robbie Avila quickly answered for the Sycamores with a 3-pointer to tie to the game at 8-8. The Spartans then put together a quick 5-0 run on a layup from Walker and an and-one play by Hall. That made the score 13-8 with 14:16 left before halftime.

The teams would continue to go back and forth from there. Swope drilled a 3-pointer, which was answered by Akins on a second-chance 3-pointer, and then followed up by yet another triple, this time by Indiana State redshirt senior guard Xavier Bledson.

After that sequence, Michigan State freshman forward Coen Carr slammed home an alley-oop dunk off of a feed from Walker. Sophomore center Carson Cooper also made one free throw to put the Spartans up by five points. Michigan State led 19-14 with 11:10 to go.

Bledson then made another 3-pointer, but Michigan State followed it with a 7-0 run. A bucket from Hoggard, another alley-oop dunk from Carr and a second-chance 3-pointer by Walker put MSU up 26-17 with 9:11 left to play before the break.

ISU then put together a 9-4 run, which included a dunk by junior guard/forward Jayson Kent and a 3-pointer by Swope, to cut the Spartans' lead to four points, 30-26, with 6:47 still to play in the first half.

Michigan State closed the first half on a 14-8 run to take a 10-point lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Senior center Mady Sissoko, who grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first half (and four total offensive boards in the game), hit a pair of free throws following Swope's 3-pointer. Akins then hit a shot from behind the arc to put the Spartans up 35-26.

After a layup from Kent for Indiana State, Cooper grabbed an offensive rebound and put it through it the hoop. However, sophomore guard Ryan Kent answered with a 3-pointer for the Sycamores.

Michigan State closed strong, though, and went on to score seven of the final 10 points of the first half. Another Swope 3-pointer was ISU's only bucket in that sequence.

At halftime, Michigan State led Indiana State 44-34.

Indiana State got off to a hot start in the second half.

The Sycamores scored seven of the first 10 points in the second half, thanks to baskets from Avila and Conwell, including a 3-pointer for Conwell.

Indiana State kept coming, and eventually fought its way back. With 15:03 remaining to play, a 17-7 run to begin the half, which was capped off by a dunk from Kent, tied the game at 51-51.

Following a jumper from Hoggard, ISU took its first lead of the game off of a 3-pointer from junior guard Julian Larry. The Sycamores led 54-53 with 14:31 left to play.

The Spartans and Sycamores kept trading punches. The game remained closely contested for the majority of the second half. With 10:38 to play, Indiana State stretched its lead out to five points, 64-59, after a jumper by Swope.

Michigan State took over from that point forward, though. After a layup from Kent with 8:16 left to play, the Sycamores did not make another field goal until the 1:31 mark.

After the aforementioned Kent basket, the score was tied at 66-66. A big 3-pointer from Hall started a 9-2 run for the Spartans, giving MSU a 75-68 lead with 4:44 remaining.

Kent briefly cut into Michigan State's lead with a pair of free throws, but seven-straight points by the Spartans (with Hall scoring six of those), stretched MSU's advantage to 82-70 with 2:30 left to play.

Indiana State scored the next four points, but free throws from Walker and Sissoko, and a dunk from Akins, put the exclamation mark on the victory for Michigan State.

A single free throw by Swope with just 35 seconds left on the clock made the score 87-75 in Michigan State's advantage, and that would be the final score.

Four Spartans hit double figures. Walker led the way for MSU with 22 points, while Hall scored 18 points, Hoggard tallied 17 points and Akins chipped in with 13 points. Walker and Hall led the team in assists with five each, while Sissoko led in rebounds with 12.

Swope led the Sycamores in scoring and had a game-high 26 points. Conwell scored 16 points and Kent had 12 points. Bledson led Indiana State in assists with five, while Avila led the squad on the glass with six rebounds.

Michigan State shot 29-for-61 (47%) from the field, while Indiana State went 25-for-57 (44%). The Spartans made six out of 17 3-point shots (35%), while the Sycamores made 14 out of 35 shots from deep range (40%).

Next up, Michigan State will enter the heart of the Big Ten schedule for the remainder of the regular season. The Spartans host Penn State at the Breslin Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will stream on Peacock.

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