Indiana performed spoiler within the Huge Ten title race on Tuesday evening by knocking off No. 11 Michigan State on the Breslin Middle. It was the primary loss this season for the Spartans in East Lansing.
Listed below are 5 takeaways from the win in opposition to Michigan State:
Malik Reneau was dominant off the bench
It’s been an up-and-down season for junior ahead Malik Reneau. The match with Oumar Ballo hasn’t all the time been straightforward and an damage additionally stored Reneau out of the lineup for a big stretch final month.
On Tuesday, Reneau delivered his most spectacular efficiency of the season.
The 6-foot-9 native of Miami, Florida, got here off the bench and led the Hoosiers with 19 factors and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes. Michigan State didn’t ship assist to Reneau when he bought it within the submit, which proved to be a poor technique.
Reneau bought to his left repeatedly and made the Spartans pay. He scored 16 factors within the second half and was 7-for-11 from the sphere.
“I can’t say sufficient about Malik as a result of I went to him earlier than the sport and advised him he wasn’t beginning,” Mike Woodson mentioned postgame. “That didn’t sit properly with him, however he mentioned, ‘coach, no matter you want me to do.’ He got here in and performed his ass off. That’s all you may ask for. It’s about crew.”
Indiana goes zone, which proved to be a game-changing adjustment
After Michigan State raced to a double-digit lead early, Indiana adjusted defensively. Woodson and the Hoosiers went zone.
The Spartans are the bottom quantity 3-point capturing crew within the Huge Ten and are among the many worst perimeter capturing groups within the nation.
Tom Izzo admitted postgame that the Spartans haven’t run into many zone defenses this season.
“They (Indiana) haven’t zoned a lot all yr,” Izzo mentioned. “Perhaps minutes. We haven’t run into a lot zone however then once you run into it, your shooters should make photographs. And guys which have made photographs didn’t make photographs.”
Michigan State shot simply 4-for-23 on 3s and solely 38.2 % from the sphere within the loss.
“We performed it (zone) in opposition to Michigan within the second half and held them to 21 factors,” Woodson mentioned. “This crew actually will get up and down the ground. So we simply felt like the one approach to sluggish them down was to play zone.”
Michigan State’s bigs have been in foul hassle all evening
The Spartans have made a behavior of attending to the foul line commonly this season and personal the very best free throw price (FTA/FGA) within the convention.
However Indiana relentlessly pounded the ball into the submit and ended the sport with a free throw price of 56 % in comparison with 45.5 % for the Spartans.
The Hoosiers completed 20-for-28 from the stripe and have been solely outscored by one on the line by the Spartans.
“They didn’t hardly take a shot the second half, they only pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside, pounded the ball inside,” Izzo mentioned. “We have been in a lot foul hassle that we didn’t guard it very properly.”
Jaxon Kohler performed simply 18 minutes and had 4 fouls for Michigan State and Carson Cooper fouled out in 16 minutes. Due to these foul points, there was loads of area for Reneau to function within the second half and he took benefit because the Hoosiers pulled off the upset win.
Indiana performs spoiler as Izzo’s Huge Ten report should wait
Izzo was anticipated to make historical past Tuesday evening. A win in opposition to Indiana would have put him previous Bob Knight for all-time Huge Ten wins.
Izzo tied the mark of 353 Huge Ten victories final weekend with a win in opposition to Oregon on the Breslin Middle.
The report should wait till at the least this weekend when Michigan State goes on the street to tackle Illinois on the State Farm Middle.
Extra importantly, nonetheless, Michigan State has misplaced its grip on the high of the Huge Ten standings. The Spartans have been 9-0 within the league on Jan. 28 however have dropped three of 4 since.
After Michigan’s 75-73 win in opposition to Purdue on Tuesday evening, the Wolverines at the moment are a recreation forward of the Spartans and Boilermakers within the loss column within the league standings.
Hoosiers seal the win on the free-throw line
Indiana scored its final subject objective, a Reneau layup, on the 3:14 mark of the second half.
Somewhat than taking part in it out and making an attempt to get stops, Izzo opted to foul instantly after Kohler’s bucket with 2:57 to play and the Spartans trailing 61-54.
That pressured Indiana to transform on the free-throw line to shut out the win. For essentially the most half, Indiana delivered.
Over the ultimate 2:41, Indiana went 10-for-14 from the road, together with 10 of their final 12. Over the sport’s last 30 seconds, Indiana scored eight factors from the road.
The Hoosiers completed the sport with six straight makes from the stripe, together with 4 from Mackenzie Mgbako and a pair from Anthony Leal that pushed the result in 4 with simply over 4 seconds to play.
(Picture credit score: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Malik Reneau, Michigan State Spartans
