Nick Ward hasn’t played a game since Feb. 17 against Ohio State and even then, he missed most of the second half but Michigan State found a way to win and the Spartans are 2-1 in his absence, including a road win over No. 6 Michigan.
The loss to Indiana wasn’t solely because the Spartans didn’t have Ward, but he definitely could have helped matters in regards to rebounding and just having another body to run at the Hoosiers’ bigs.
The lack of depth reared its ugly head for Michigan State against Indiana in the second half and the Spartans just couldn’t hang on, losing the game by one after leading for 38 minutes.