EAST LANSING, Mich. – All 265 kilos of Oumar Ballo lumbered out to half court docket, leaping up and down as he met Malik Reneau simply outdoors of the Breslin Heart’s Spartan emblem and leapt within the air to embrace a chest bump. As he walked into the tunnel, he blew kisses in the direction of the Michigan State crowd.
On this season with this timing, Indiana basketball wasn’t purported to do what it did. Not solely did the Hoosiers knock off No. 11 MSU in a dramatic 71-67 win, however additionally they prevented Tom Izzo from surpassing Bob Knight’s Massive Ten win report within the course of.
“I didn’t suppose I wanted to inform our guys that,” Mike Woodson mentioned postgame. “We (have been) simply attempting to get out of this slide and get a win. I believed we had a complete crew effort.”
Coming into the sport as 11-point underdogs, Indiana regarded much more unlikely to tug off the upset after the primary 9 minutes.
The Spartans sliced and slashed their strategy to no matter they wished across the rim, flying out to a 20-8 lead. Eight gamers accounted for these 20 factors, and whether or not it’s a layup, free throw or putback from an offensive rebound, MSU managed all aspects.
Conversely, the Hoosiers opened with a lackluster offensive recreation plan. A repeat of the Wisconsin recreation regarded imminent, barring a serious adjustment.
Then, it occurred. In contrast to many of the season, when IU would settle for its destiny and play the identical model till it was pushed into the bottom, the adjustment was made – a 2-3 zone.
It was nothing grand, but it surely was the fitting transfer. Woodson tinkered with the zone towards Michigan on Saturday to no avail, but it surely labored wonders towards a Spartans crew who entered the sport an abysmal 29.3 p.c from the 3-point line.
“This crew actually will get up and down the ground,” Woodson mentioned. “We simply felt like the one strategy to sluggish them down was to play some zone.”
It helped either side, too. Luke Goode made a pair of transition triples. The within-out offense began to blossom. MSU baskets turned more durable and more durable to come back by.
Cathedral product Xavier Booker canned a nook three to present Michigan State a 27-20 lead with 5:41 left within the body, but it surely was all IU for the remainder of the half. The Hoosiers closed with a 12-2 run during which Sparty struggled even to search out pictures to take, not to mention make them.
The spark continued into the second half, however hassle lurked when Ballo picked up his third foul early. When he was subbed out, it made a distinction in IU’s zone with out its rim protector roaming the paint and the Spartans began to search out cracks.
MSU examined the Hoosiers, chipping a deficit as excessive as 9 factors down to a few factors twice, however the Hoosiers remained steadfast. After Ballo got here again in however shortly picked up his fourth foul and returned to the bench, the lead shrank to 2 with 6:17 to play.
Indiana wanted one thing, somebody, or else one other collapse paying homage to the Maryland loss loomed. So, Reneau went to work.
With all of Michigan State’s bigs sans Booker in foul hassle, Reneau did as he happy within the paint. Bounce hook, bully ball, spin transfer – it didn’t matter. In a sub-three-minute stretch, he scored 9 of Indiana’s 11 factors to bump the lead again to 9.
“I used to be getting pissed off with myself early on, however Coach got here as much as me and informed me, simply go straight to the rim and that’s what I began doing,” Reneau mentioned. “The second half, I used to be doing that, and every part was working for me.”
With the Spartans unable to regain the lead, Izzo determined to play chess, utilizing up his fouls to present and forcing a shaky Hoosiers crew to the free-throw line.
After a couple of IU misses and MSU baskets, a back-and-forth commenced. Within the remaining 30 seconds, Woodson elected to foul when up three or 4 factors to forestall any triples regardless of the Spartans’ woeful skills from deep.
It created an affair that felt so long as a Christopher Nolan film. Within the remaining 1:15, the 2 groups tried 21 free throws. Down 69-67 with 5 seconds left, Spartan guard Tre Holloman deliberately missed, however IU corralled the rebound and Anthony Leal sealed the sport with two makes.
“They’ve had a troublesome go at it, however I can’t allow them to give up, man,” Woodson mentioned. “We’ve simply acquired to maintain working and maintain pushing one another and see the place it leads us.”
Reneau and Ballo notched double-doubles and Luke Goode and Myles Rice every chipped in 10 factors. The Hoosiers didn’t produce the prettiest numbers, however they, extra importantly, made Michigan State’s even uglier – 38.2 p.c taking pictures from the sector and 17.4 p.c from deep on 23 makes an attempt.
So, what now? Can IU maintain its momentum rolling? Is the zone protection the reply for the season’s the rest?
These can’t be answered but, and at this level, all Woodson has promised is to maintain his crew believing in one thing and to place within the work. With three straight house video games subsequent, can the Hoosiers use Tuesday’s win as a springboard to a powerful end?
(Photograph credit score: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Michigan State Spartans
