Before Indiana men’s basketball tipped off at No. 11 Michigan State, head coach Mike Woodson made a pair of lineup changes. Veteran guard Trey Galloway replaced sophomore Myles Rice as the point man and sharpshooter Luke Goode replaced Malik Reneau. Ironically, it was Indiana’s two big men that led them to a 71-67 upset win — Woodson’s first victory at the Breslin Center in his last trip to East Lansing.
Coming off the bench, Reneau and center Oumar Ballo scored 34 of Indiana’s 71 points while shooting a combined 52% from the floor. Reneau tallied his second double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds while coming off the bench for the second time this season.
Woodson commended Reneau postgame, saying on Peacock that the junior forward responded well. After receiving the news that he would not be in Tuesday’s starting lineup, Reneau said, “Coach, I am going to do what you need me to do.”
Despite its status as a Big Ten title contender, Michigan State has struggled with perimeter scoring this season. It entered Tuesday’s game against Indiana ranking last in the conference in 3-point field goals attempted, 3-point field goals made and 3-point percentage. Indiana keyed in on one of the Spartans’ only weaknesses and switched from its typical man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone.
It worked wonders — the Hoosiers held Tom Izzo’s Spartans to 4-for-23 from 3-point range on the night where the longtime Michigan State head coach looked to pass Indiana legend Bob Knight atop the all-time Big Ten wins ladder.
“The zone saved us tonight,” Woodson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this group of guys, especially because we’ve had our ups and downs.”
Indiana’s upset win over Michigan State stops a skid during which the Hoosiers lost seven out of their last eight games, going winless for nearly a month. Indiana was squarely on the wrong side of the March Madness bubble and this win significantly bolsters its tournament resume as it looks to get back to the Big Dance after missing out last season.
Although he will not stand out on the stat sheet, second-year forward Mackenzie Mgbako’s performance was critical in locking down the win for Indiana. Clinging to a one-point advantage with 13 seconds left, Mgbako, who averages 13.3 points per game, went to the free-throw line as Michigan State looked to foul and claw its way ahead.
Mgbako had scored just three points on the night prior to stepping to the line, but he drained four key free throws in the next four seconds of game time. Michigan State’s Tre Holloman intentionally missed a foul shot after Mgbako made his. Anthony Leal rebounded the ball, drew a foul and made both free throws to seal Indiana’s first upset victory of the season.
“We’re playing to get into the tournament,” Woodson said. “Anything can happen. I’ve just got to get these guys to believe.”
Indiana is now 15-10 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten. It hosts UCLA at 8 p.m. Friday looking to build momentum towards a postseason tournament run. The Bruins had their seven-game winning streak snapped after an 83-78 loss at Illinois on Tuesday night and have looked particularly vulnerable away from the west coast.
Woodson was adamant before Tuesday’s victory that if Indiana can win five of its final seven games, it has a chance at making noise in March. One down, four to go.
