This is not Sparta: IU defeats Michigan State 70-55

For the third time this season, a top-five ranked team walked into Assembly Hall, and for the third straight game, they walked out with a loss.

Unlike the first two times, however, there was little doubt down the stretch Tuesday evening.

Thanks to another balanced performance of five IU players in double figures, the No. 18/20 Hoosiers (23-7, 10-7) knocked off No. 5 Michigan State (24-6, 13-4) 70-55.

In going against the third-best rebounding team in the nation, the Hoosiers more than held their own, winning the battle 31-30 and outscoring the Spartans 13-0 in second-chance points.

“Coming into the game, we knew we had to win the rebounding game to win the game overall, and I think all of us took that to heart,” freshman forward Cody Zeller said. “Anywhere from me and Christian (Watford) to the guards were getting in there, getting rebounds, so it was a full team effort on the glass.”

The Hoosiers were able to build a 14-point halftime lead behind 11 first-half points from sophomore guard Victor Oladipo.

The Big Ten Champion Spartans made numerous runs in the second half, but every time, the Hoosiers had an answer.

“We just kept attacking,” Watford said. “We didn’t go into a stall type of basketball. We just wanted to keep our foot down on the pedal and do what we do, get the ball inside and get to the foul line.”

The closest Michigan State would get in the second half was six points as, once again, IU executed the plays in the closing minutes.

Down the stretch, IU scored baskets from a variety of players and turned to its leading scorer twice when the Spartans cut the lead to six.

After scoring a season low four points in IU’s 80-65 loss to the Spartans on Dec. 28, 2011, Zeller bounced back and led the way with 18 points.

“I learned a lot since the first game of the Big Ten,” Zeller said. “We watched film from the game before, and I just tried to pick up on little things here and there.”

In that meeting in East Lansing, Mich., IU only made it to the free throw line nine times as the Spartans gave IU its first loss of the season.

Getting to the line was the key to the first half for the Hoosiers, as both teams made 11 field goals, but IU outscored the Spartans by 14 from the foul line.

The Spartans not only top the league standings but lead the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense and rebounding.

“As we kept saying today, ‘It’s not hit or be hit. It’s hit or be out,’ and this is a game where you’ve got to be in the mix because they set the tone and standard for toughness in our league and in the country,” IU Coach Tom Crean said.

The three wins against top-five teams marks the first time in school history that an IU team has accomplished such a feat in the regular season.

“They’re living proof of what happens when you persevere, you deal with adversity, and you lock yourself in the gym and just get better,” Crean said.

With this latest win against a top-five team, IU will seek to improve its NCAA Tournament seeding on Senior Day this Sunday when Purdue heads to Assembly Hall.

“When we beat top teams like that, we are nasty, we’re scrappy, we’re fighting,” senior guard Verdell Jones III said. “We haven’t won anything in the postseason, so we have to have that nasty attitude with every team we play.

“There’s no better time to get hot than right now to end the season going into
the postseason.”