After a solid non-conference season that saw the Hoosiers return to the top 25, Indiana starts Big Ten play tonight with its toughest road trip to date. The No. 15 rated Hoosiers travel to East Lansing tonight for a Big Ten test against No. 17 Michigan State. The Spartans have played their usual difficult schedule in non-conference play, while Indiana's ranking is based mostly on their upset of Kentucky. The Hoosiers are still one of the final unbeaten teams in college basketball, however, and will be without Will Sheehey and Verdell Jones III. Those factors make this a very difficult challenge for IU:
The Spartans steal the ball on 12 percent of possessions and block 15 percent of shot attempts. While Kentucky is a very good defensive team, this game, on the road, will be by far the toughest test for the Hoosiers' high-powered offense so far.
Purdue also begins Big Ten play tonight with a road trip to the place where last season came apart at the seams. When the Boilermakers visited Iowa last season for the final game of the regular season Purdue was in the top 6 and had an outside shot at a No. 1 seed int he NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes upset Purdue 67-65, and the Boilermakers were never the same, losing their Big Ten Tournament game against the Spartans and int he NCAA Tournament against VCU.
This season's Purdue team comes in at 10-3, but only a handful of possessions away from being 12-1. After late blown leads against Xavier and Butler Purdue is need of a confidence building win on the road. their last three games away from Mackey Arena have resulted in a loss, but Robbie Hummel continues to pace them at 17.5 points per game.
Indiana's tipoff comes at 7:30pm on the Big Ten network, with Purdue following at 9:30.
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