EAST LANSING, MICH. — In 12 nonconference games, Cody Zeller looked like a player who wouldn’t miss a beat once conference play began.
Then came the Michigan State Spartans and a rude welcome to Big Ten basketball.
The 6-11 freshman was limited to a season-low four points and three rebounds and his teammates were unable to pick up the slack as No. 15 Michigan State used a big second half run to knock off No. 13 Indiana 80-65 at the Breslin Center.
“Cody saw what this game is like in the sense of this league when you go against some of the physical five-men that are in the league,’’ said IU coach Tom Crean. “But he’ll make some adjustments. He made some in the second half. It didn’t turn out to be a great game for him but he is a quick learner.’’
It was the first loss of the season for the Hoosiers (12-1, 0-1) and it doesn’t get any easier in the next few days. Saturday, IU will play host to No. 2 Ohio State at Assembly Hall and next week the Hoosiers will host Michigan.
Michigan State (12-2, 1-0), which lost its first two games of the season to North Carolina and Duke, won its 12th game in a row. Keith Appling had 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Derrick Nix came off the bench to add 14 for the Spartans.
This one was a game of runs. Michigan State had a big one early to build up an 18-point lead with 5:09 to play in the first half. The Hoosiers then used a 13-2 run to close the gap to 36-29 at the break. But IU didn’t stop there. The Hoosiers scored the first 12 points of the second half to lead 41-36.
The IU lead was nine at 54-45 after Christian Watford hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 11:07 to play. Just when it looked like the Spartans might be on the ropes, however, Michigan State had its biggest run of the game.
In a span of just over six minutes, Michigan State went on a 20-0 run to take control at 65-54. Appling scored on a drive to the basket and hit a free throw to start the run. Two free throws by Adreian Payne at the 5:13 mark ended it. Indiana would not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
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