Michigan State controls their own destiny

After squeaking out a close six point victory over Purdue, Michigan State looks to close its regular season out on a positive note. At 20-10 (11-6, Big Ten) the Spartans have pretty much secured their place in the big dance for the 18^th consecutive season but, have not secured a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament and that’s is the team’s focus.

Michigan State is currently in a four-way tie with Purdue, No. 23 Ohio State and Iowa for the fourth spot in the conference and the last team to receive a double-bye. By defeating Indiana today, Michigan State will secure the fourth seed in the Big Ten and get their double-bye.

For the Spartans a win today could place them as high as the three seed and a loss could drop them down to a six seed. Seeding is not everything in the Big Ten tournament, it does help in terms of days off and when the team will actually start play.

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The Spartans control their own destiny, it’s quite simple actually. Win be one of the top seeds or lose and not be one of the top seeds. However, the season the Spartans have had, pulling out miracles have not been in the cards this season. Even though the team has clinched its 20^th win for the 15^th time, there has not been any guarantees with this year’s team.

Record wise, the Spartans have had a fairly decent year but watching them play and all of the miscues they’ve had, especially from the free-throw line, it’s imperative that the team wins today and finds some sort of rhythm to carry into the Big Ten tournament.

“We know that the  difference between one extra game going into the Big Ten tournament is big for us, especially with the long season we’ve had and we’re not as deep as we normally are, Travis Trice told Mlive.com. “It could be a big difference for us.”

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Winning today will give a banged up Michigan State some much needed rest, especially since the team will be without leading rebounder, Branden Dawson in today’s game.

Earning one of the top four seeds in the tournament will not only give the Spartans an extra day of rest, it helps with their confidence on what has been an up and down season.

Clinching one of the top four seeds has worked well for the Spartans in years past. In 2012 and 2014, Michigan State finished as the three seed in the Big Ten and in both years the team won the tournament.

If and that is a big if, the Spartans do well in the Big Ten tournament it will give them the right momentum going into the NCAA Tournament and could potentially give the team a better seed, should they play well in their conference tournament.

Winning at Indiana will not be an easy task, the Hoosiers defend their home court well, posting a 16-5 record going into today’s game.

Game info

Teams: Michigan State vs Indiana

Time: 12:00pm

TV: ESPN