Michigan State falls to Maryland in Big Ten tournament opener, awaits Selection Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS – Michigan State came to Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon riding high off an upset win over No. 2 Michigan to close the regular season.

It will now have to sit in a hotel for three days stewing on one of its worst halves of the season and hope it’s done enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans fell to Maryland, 68-57 in its Big Ten tournament opener on Thursday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium here in Indianapolis.

Instead of traveling back to East Lansing, the Spartans plan to remain in their Indianapolis hotel through Selection Sunday, per NCAA COVID-19 protocols.

Michigan State (15-12) entered the week projected as a member of the field of 68 regardless of its Thursday outcome – albeit as one of the final at-large teams to make it in. The Spartans are looking to make their 23rd straight NCAA Tournament and its Thursday performance didn’t leave a good last impression.

The Spartans shot poorly, just better than 40 percent for the game, recorded 18 turnovers and 23 in their second lopsided loss to the Terrapins this season.

Compared to the teams’ regular-season matchup, when the Spartans fell behind 11-0 early and worked to catch up the rest of the game, Thursday marked the opposite.

Michigan State hit eight of its first 11 shots and went up by 11 points at the 13:49 mark of the first half. The Spartans had baskets from five different players before the game was six minutes old. Malik Hall hit a pair of shots, and Marcus Bingham Jr. came off the bench to record a dunk, a block, a putback basket and two other rebounds in his first three minutes on the floor.

But the Spartans hit just one shot and recorded seven turnovers in the final 10 minutes of the half, as Maryland erased that double-digit disparity and went into halftime ahead by four.

The Terrapins came back largely at the free throw line. Michigan State was called for 14 first-half fouls, including an average of one per minute for the last 10 minutes of the half. That included a technical foul on the Michigan State bench.

That allowed a Maryland team that shot 7-for-22 in the first half and made just a pair of two-point baskets to come back against a clearly frustrated Spartans team. Maryland shot 15-for-16 from the free throw line in the first half.

Yet Michigan State didn’t help itself with an ice-cold shooting stretch. After a Joey Hauser basket that put the Spartans up by 12 at the 10:21 mark of the first half, the Spartans missed 16 of their next 17 shots.

By the time the Spartans ended that dry spell, they were down by 11 with 13 minutes left.

Michigan State briefly pulled within 10 points on a Bingham dunk with 12:10 left. But Maryland immediately answered with a 3-pointer and a basket on a goaltending call. Michigan State didn’t challenge again, as it started the second half 3-for-20 with eight turnovers and eight fouls.

Forward Malik Hall was an offensive bright spot, with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

But nearly all of the Spartans’ key players struggled. Aaron Henry went 5-for-12 for 12 points. Joshua Langford had a particularly tough day, going 1-for-8. Joey Hauser shot 2-for-6.

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