[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's Thrilling Victory At Michigan State
Here are three stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 71-67 upset of no. 11 Michigan State.
EAST LANSING — After a back-breaking loss at home to Michigan, Indiana basketball took to the road to take on Michigan State in the Breslin Center.
The Hoosiers, despite a late surge from the Spartans, found a way to earn a resumé-boosting win. With the victory, Indiana improves to 15-10 overall and 6-8 in Big Ten play.
“Everybody knows what the situation is now,” Indiana junior forward Malik Reneau said postgame. “So we just coming together and trying to play as hard as we can every time step on the court.”
Here are three stats, two additional observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 71-67 victory over Michigan State.
3 Meaningful Stats
1. Indiana went on a 30-9 run in large part due to the zone defense
In the second half of Saturday's tilt with Michigan, Indiana deployed a zone to slow down a high octane Wolverine offense and it worked like a charm, allowing the Hoosiers to erase double-digit deficit.
Tuesday night against Michigan State, Indiana's defense provided very little resistance in the first handful of minutes. So the Hoosiers adjusted again, returning to the zone, and forcing Michigan State to rely on its Achilles heel: three-point shooting.
The Spartans entered the game dead last in the conference in three-point percentage, shooting a dreadful 29.2 percent on the season.
Indiana trailed Michigan State by as many as a dozen in the first half, but the zone stymied the Spartan offense, which shot 2-of-12 from long range in the game's opening 20 minutes.
The Hoosiers held the Spartans to no points in the half's final 4:11, allowing Indiana to end on a 9-0 run to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
“We played it against Michigan the second half and held them with 29 points,” Woodson said. “The zone was effective, and we were able to come out here with a win.”
2. Indiana led for all 20 minutes of the second half
As it has been said all season long, the only thing consistent about Indiana this season has been its inconsistency.
Indiana took its first lead when Oumar Ballo made a pair at the line with 1:57 left in the first half and never looked back.
The issues of inconsistency seemed to disappear as Indiana never relinquished its lead.
In fact, Michigan State was rarely within one possession the vast majority of the second half.
3. Reneau steps up, scored 19 points
It was apparent early that Indiana's plan of attack offensively was going to be using Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau in heavy doses, and the plan worked all night long.
Reneau, who flourished in the second half on Saturday, was nothing short of remarkable in the second half. Michigan State simply had no answer for the junior, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Reneau will have to continue to step up if the Hoosiers want to make a late-season push to an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
2 Important Observations
1. Not ToKnight, Tom Izzo.
The storyline heading into Tuesday night was all about Tom Izzo being one victory away from surpassing Bob Knight’s record for most Big Ten conference coaching victories all time.
It was a fairytale script, Izzo surpassing The General’s record against the Hoosiers.
But Indiana didn’t back down. It was as if Coach Knight had it all planned out that his Hoosiers weren't going to be the team to be in the history books.
Though he didn’t give his team a pep-talk about it, Woodson was of what was at stake for his colleague on the other bench.
"He's won a lot of games," Woodson said, of Izzo. "To be mentioned in Bob Knight's arena, it means Tom Izzo is pretty damn special, I mean really special."
2. Indiana managed the late-game scenario perfectly
It wasn't pretty at first, but Woodson and Indiana executed the late-game scenario well. Mackenzie Mgabko and Anthony Leal made the final six shots from the charity stripe, and fouling up three helped Indiana seal the upset on the road.
The Hoosiers held the Spartans to 67 points, making it just the fifth time Michigan State has been held under 70 points this season.
As a team, Indiana shot 48 percent from the field, all while holding Michigan State to 38 percent and an abysmal 4-of-23 from beyond the arc.
The win marked the first time the Hoosiers emerged victorious in six games, the first since Indiana beat Ohio State in overtime in Columbus on January 17th.
1 Lingering Question
Winning is great. Can it continue?
Far too many games have slipped away from Indiana late in the last three weeks. From the heartbreakers at home against Maryland and Michigan to a last-second loss at Purdue, it has been agonizing times for Indiana.
Indiana’s tournament hopes are on life support, but Tuesday night felt like the 2019 game against Michigan State. A struggling Hoosier team on a losing streak finding a way to win on the road in one of the toughest environments in the Big Ten.
The win is fantastic, but it has to translate to Friday night against UCLA. There aren’t many opportunities left for Indiana, but the bubble hasn’t quite popped and Friday will be a measuring stick game to see if Tuesday’s victory wasn’t a fluke.
“We got to look ahead, man, and try to figure out this next game UCLA is next day, playing tremendous basketball, playing them in our gym, on our floor,” Woodson said. “We just got to come out and put a 40 minute ball game together.”
Enjoy it. The game follows a pattern that we can be competitive if teams struggle to make threes. I haven't felt we controlled or dictated play often this year but last night we did. Surprised Izzo did not give more help D on Malik.