Cassius Winston, one point and two assists in 11 minutes of play, and Nick Ward, nine points, four rebounds, and four fouls in 18 minutes, both struggled for the Spartans. The Spartans fell out of first place at 4–2 and 12–7 overall. After a week off, MSU returned to the road to face Indiana who had just learned they would be without star player OG Anunoby for the remainder of the season. Indiana started off extremely well, led by James Blackmon's 18 points in the first half. The Spartans struggled defensively as IU took the halftime lead, 44–30. Indiana kept the hot shooting going early in the second half pushing the lead to as many as 20. However, MSU, behind Eron Harris' 21 points and a play-making Cassius Winston, fought back to within four points with five minutes remaining with a 24–10 stretch over 10 minutes. The comeback was not enough as the Hoosiers were able to hold on for the 82–75 victory. The loss left MSU at 12–8 overall and 4–3 in the Big Ten. As the Spartans returned home looking to avoid their third straight loss, No. 20 Purdue paid a visit to East Lansing. MSU played well, taking an eight-point lead near the end of the first half, but gave up the lead. However, Miles Bridges hit a layup as time expired to tie the game at 39 at halftime. MSU's small front line struggled mightily against a much bigger Purdue team and MSU had three players with two fouls at halftime. In the second half, Purdue's size proved be too much for the Spartans pulling away late in the game to win 84–73. Bridges set the MSU single-game record for scoring by a freshman with 33 points, but no other Spartan scored in double figures. Caleb Swanigan led the Boilermakers, scoring 25 and adding 17 rebounds. The Spartans were outrebounded in the game 36–23. The loss gave the Spartans their third straight leaving their record at 12–9 and 4–4 in conference. Looking to break out of a three-game losing streak, the Spartans welcomed rival Michigan to the Breslin Center. The teams exchanged runs and leads in the first half and MSU went to the break with a 32–28 lead. MSU played suffocating defense in the first and good defense in the second, holding Michigan to 26.9% from the three-point line in the game and 33.9% overall.