Indiana
Michigan State suffers another close loss in final regular season game vs. Indiana, 65-64
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – One shot after another missed the mark, clanging off the rim and banging off the backboard.
One Michigan State basketball player after another tumbled to the floor, losing their footing – figuratively and literally – on offense and defense.
One rebound after another went to Indiana, the Spartans getting outpositioned, outmuscled and outhustled.
It could not have been a worse start for Tom Izzo’s team in its last regular-season game. After all, he pointed to this road trip against the Hoosiers as the start of “tournament time” for MSU. Only the Spartans didn’t get started Sunday until they found themselves down 16 points a little more than 12 minutes into the game.
That woke them up. And those same shots started dropping. A 33-10 comeback run between the end of the first half and the start of the second flipped it into a seven-point lead.
Only to watch it all slip away in the end.
Tyson Walker scored 20 of his 30 points in a furious second-half rally, but the senior missed a driving layup with 6 seconds left and Indiana tipped the ball out to escape with a 65-64 victory at Assembly Hall.
MSU (18-13, 10-10 Big Ten) opens Big Ten tournament play Thursday as the No. 8 seed, drawing the No. 9 seed in the noon game that day at Target Center (streaming on Peacock). That winner gets the dubious task of facing No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday.
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Kel’el Ware scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half, including splitting a pair of free throws with 17.8 seconds to play, to give Indiana (18-13, 10-10) its final lead in a game filled with three lead changes and four ties in the final half.
Ware added 12 rebounds, while Malik Reneau scored 16 points with five boards and five assists and Mackenzie Mgbako added 13 points.
Jaden Akins and A.J. Hoggard each had 10 points and Malik Hall added seven, but they combined to go 11-for-33 from the floor. Walker was 11-for-21 as the Spartans shot 38.5% overall and went 8-for-25 from 3-point range. Hall had seven rebounds, while Hoggard had six assists.
Worst start imaginable
Things could not have started much worse for MSU at both ends of the court.
Xavier Booker got his second start in the last four games, and it was evident from the outset that facing Indiana’s young and talented frontcourt was a bad matchup for the Spartans’ freshman. He missed rebounding opportunities and struggled defensively as the Hoosiers attacked him inside and pounded the boards.
That also coincided with a brutal start on offense in which MSU missed 12 of its first 14 shots. Indiana opened 8-of-14 from the field and spaced things out by going 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the first 6:46 to build a 20-5 lead.
The Hoosiers’ lead swelled to 16 on a Ware banked-in jumper from the paint with 7:53 to go. But Mady Sissoko threw down a dunk after a lob entry pass from Hoggard that jumpstarted the Spartans’ comeback run as their defense began to finally began to disrupt Indiana’s offensive rhythm.
After that hot start, the Hoosiers finished 5-for-17 and committed all nine of their first-half turnovers in the final 12:35. MSU fought back from a 16-point hole with a 19-8 run in the last 7:28 to trail 34-29 at half.
Walker, who missed his first three shots, started to heat up after a driving layup turned into a three-point play with 8:35 left. He would hit two more jumpers after Sissoko’s dunk, then buried a 3-pointer with a minute left before half. Hall’s tip-in with 9 seconds left helped the Spartans close the half on a 19-8 surge in the final 7:28 to pull within 34-29 at the break.
After opening the game 3-for-20, the Spartans made nine of their final 12 attempts. Walker had 10 points at the break, while Hoggard hit both of his 3-point tries as the rest of his teammates were 1-for-8.
Indiana got 29 points and 15 rebounds from its inside trio of Ware, Reneau and Mgbako in the first half. The Hoosiers had a dominating 24-15 advantage on the boards.
Too little too late
That momentum carried over into the second half, with MSU coming out of the locker room with a Walker-fueled 14-2 burst to take the lead.
On one trip, Akins got three 3-point attempts and finally buried his third. He connected with another on the next trip, then Walker hit his second of the half to force Indiana coach Mike Woodson to call timeout 4:02 into the half. Out of that, Hoggard drove and dropped a floater after exceptional perimeter ball movement from Akins and Walker. MSU found itself up 43-36 with 15:24 to play.
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But Indiana again began to take the ball inside to exploit the Spartans in the paint. Ware and Reneau combined for 14 straight Hoosier points, while Walker had eight of the Spartans’ 10 in that stretch. But an 8-0 Indiana run, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Mgbako over Hoggard and another from Xavier Johnson, gave Indiana back the lead and set up a back-and-forth finish over the last eight-plus minutes.
The two teams traded buckets and leads from there, with a Carson Cooper put-back dunk after Johnson’s 3-pointer giving MSU some juice back. Walker hit a pair of free throws with 2:10 left, but Ware answered with a layup through a foul but missed the free throw. Then Walker landed another counter punch to tie it up at 64-all with a driving layup around ware with 1:29 to play.
MSU had a chance to take the lead after that, but Walker missed a layup and Cooper’s put-back attempt banged off the rim and got knocked out. Ware posted up Hall and drew a foul with 17.8 left, missing the first but hitting the second.
With 14.5 left, after an MSU timeout, Walker drove right. His shot missed, then got knocked away to midcourt, where the Hoosiers gathered it up and raced downcourt to run out the clock.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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CLOVERDALE, Ind. (WKRC) – Authorities in Indiana found a semi trailer loaded up with hundreds of pounds of suspected cocaine.
According to a statement issued by the Indiana State Police (ISP), 27-year-old Harmandeep Singh of Bakersfield, California was taken into custody after nearly 400 pounds of suspected cocaine were reportedly found in the trailer of a commercial truck.
Per the statement, an ISP trooper seized the suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Putnam County, authorities said.
The stop occurred Tuesday morning near the 37-mile marker, just east of Cloverdale, after a commercial motor vehicle was observed exceeding the posted speed limit.
Police said Singh displayed several indicators of possible criminal activity during the encounter. After obtaining consent to search the vehicle, troopers discovered multiple duffel bags and cardboard boxes in the trailer containing approximately 392 pounds (178 kilograms) of suspected cocaine.
Authorities estimated the street value of the drugs at about $9 million.
Singh was taken into custody and taken to the Putnam County Jail, where he is being held on a $30,000 cash bond.
He faces the following preliminary charges, per the post:
- Possession of a narcotic drug
Formal charges will be determined by the Putnam County prosecutor.
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Indiana State Police said drug interdiction remains a priority, with troopers focusing on major highways to disrupt the flow of illegal narcotics into the state.
For many Hoosiers living in rural Indiana, accessing health care can mean driving 30 minutes or even an hour to see a doctor or reach the nearest hospital. As workforce shortages and financial pressures challenge rural hospitals across the country, ensuring access to care close to home has become one of the most important health-care issues facing our state.
About one in four Indiana residents live in a rural community, yet access to health-care services in many of these communities continues to shrink. Across the nation, rural hospitals and clinics report extremely thin operating margins and often say workforce shortages and rising costs make it difficult to sustain services such as primary care, maternity care and behavioral health.
When rural communities struggle to maintain health-care access, the impact doesn’t stay confined to small towns. It ripples across the entire health-care system, contributing to increases in chronic conditions, reduced preventative care for children, and worsening outcomes for the sickest patients.
Communities such as Greater Lafayette serve as a regional hub for care, with hospitals like IU Health Arnett caring for patients from surrounding counties across north-central and west-central Indiana. That role is something we are proud to fulfill. But when rural residents must travel long distances for care that should be available closer to home, it places increasing pressure on emergency departments, specialty clinics and inpatient services at larger regional hospitals.
In many cases, what might have been a routine appointment, preventive screening or early diagnosis in a local clinic becomes far more serious by the time a patient reaches a larger hospital. A missed screening can escalate into a medical emergency.
That reality makes strengthening rural health care more important than ever — not just for rural communities, but for the health of the entire state.
One of the most important steps we can take is investing in the next generation of health-care professionals who will care for these communities.
At IU Health, we are working directly with local schools and community partners to help build that workforce pipeline. Across the region, IU Health has partnered with the Greater Lafayette Career Academy and area school districts to introduce students to health-care careers earlier and provide hands-on learning opportunities that bring those careers to life.
Through these programs, students explore health-care pathways and earn certifications such as certified nursing assistant, medical assistant or emergency medical technician while still in high school. Many participate in job shadowing opportunities, clinical experiences and mentorship programs, giving them valuable exposure to the field before they graduate. In fact, since the first cohort in 2023, IU Health has extended job offers to more than 70 students.
The goal is simple but powerful: help students see that meaningful careers in health care exist in their own communities and create pathways that allow them to stay and serve those communities.
For rural health care, this approach is critical. Students who train and develop personal mentorship connections locally are far more likely to remain in the region after completing their education. By helping young people build skills and connections early, we can create a sustainable workforce that strengthens health-care access in both rural communities and regional centers, including Greater Lafayette.
Since launching the $200 million Community Impact Investment Fund in 2018, IU Health has invested more than $40 million in community grants supporting workforce development, education and school-based programs that build Indiana’s health-care talent pipeline. This includes funding for the Indiana Latino Institute, which placed Latino students in health-care internships, supported career pathways, and provided medical interpreter training and college coaching to communities across the state.
Our goal is to make Indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation, and this is one way we work toward that in partnership with our communities.
But workforce development is only part of the solution.
Strengthening rural health care will also require continued collaboration between health-care providers, educators, community leaders and policymakers. Expanding telehealth access, supporting rural hospitals and investing in primary care and behavioral health services are all critical steps toward ensuring patients can receive care close to home.
Greater Lafayette will always play an important role as a regional health-care center, providing specialized care and advanced services for patients across a broad region. But the long-term health of Indiana’s health-care system depends on maintaining strong local access points for care in rural communities.
When rural clinics and hospitals can provide preventive care, manage chronic conditions and connect patients with the services they need early, the entire system works better.
Patients receive care sooner, communities stay healthier and larger hospitals can focus on the complex cases they are designed to treat.
Healthy rural communities do not just benefit the towns where they are. They strengthen Indiana’s entire health-care system by ensuring that every Hoosier — no matter where they live — has access to the care and resources they need to live healthier lives.
When rural health care succeeds, all of Indiana benefits.
Gary Henriott is a lifelong resident of Lafayette and the retired CEO and Chairman of Henriott Group. He is the chair of the IU Health West Region board of directors and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network, and president of Lafayette’s Board of Public Works and Safety.
INDIANAPOLIS (WKRC) — An Indianapolis mother is now facing criminal charges after her 2-month-old baby died in an apparent improper co-sleeping environment, according to investigators.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by FOX 59/CBS 4, police were called to an area hospital on Sept. 19, 2024, following the death of 27-year-old Brooklyn Davis’ son. The boy had been found unresponsive in his family’s home early that morning, and Davis attempted CPR before he was rushed to the hospital.
The affidavit says the boy had been sleeping on Davis’ bed with his 6-year-old brother. Davis later showed investigators a video showing the baby sleeping chest down on the 6-year-old’s chest.
An autopsy concluded the baby’s cause of death was “sudden explained death of an infant” with an intrinsic factor, which included being “placed to sleep in a queen-sized mattress being shared with a 6-year-old sibling, along with numerous blankets and other miscellaneous items; discovered unresponsive in a prone position with his face turned to the side and partially covered with a blanket.”
A report from the Department of Child Services (DCS) indicated the boy had no known health issues and that Davis ran an FSSA-licensed day care and has “extensive training on child care and safe sleeping environments.”
Davis had been known to DCS prior to the baby’s death. The boy had been born marijuana-positive and, on July 2, 2024, Davis had reportedly signed a “Safe Sleep Safety Plan,” acknowledging she understood that the safest places for her baby to sleep were in a crib, pack-and-play or bassinet and warned that co-sleeping places the baby at risk of suffocation and sleeping areas should be kept free of blankets, pillows and other items. The plan also included a provision that Davis not use marijuana while caring for her children, but she told investigators during an interview that, the morning of her baby’s death, she had gone downstairs to smoke marijuana and left the children alone upstairs.
Davis’ two other children were removed from the home, and interviews with them revealed that co-sleeping with the infant happened often.
Investigators say they attempted to contact Davis several times after talking to her children.
“She called me on February 18, 2025, and said she didn’t do anything wrong, her baby died of SIDS,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. “Brooklyn never came in for an additional interview.”
Court records indicate the case was filed in March 2026. Davis was booked into jail on April 1 on three counts of neglect of a dependent. An initial hearing was held on April 7, and a bail review hearing is planned for Monday.
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