Indiana Shocks No. 11 Michigan State As Hoosiers Prevail 71-67

Indiana used a zone defense to keep Michigan State off-balance and the Hoosiers bigs were productive.

Todd Golden | Feb 12, 2025

Michigan State's Szymon Zapala, right, guards Indiana's Oumar Ballo in the post during the second half on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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(updated Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 12:23 a.m. ET)

EAST LANSING, Mich. – For one more game, Indiana’s men’s basketball team ensured that program legend Bob Knight still had a piece of the all-time Big Ten win record.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo could have overtaken Knight for the all-time Big Ten lead if No. 11 Michigan State would have won, but the Hoosiers sprung a shock on the Spartans.

Fueled by excellent efforts from Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau, and of all things, a zone defense – Indiana ended its five-game losing streak with a 71-67 triumph on Tuesday at Breslin Center.

Malik Reneau led Indiana with 19 points and 12 rebounds, 16 of those points scored in the second half. Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Goode and Myles Rice had 10 points each.

"I didn't think I needed to tell our guys (about the Big Ten win record). We just needed to get off this slide and get a win. I thought we had a total team effort from everybody and the zone helped us," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.

Indiana used a 2-3 zone for much of the game and held Michigan State to 38.2% shooting. The Spartans threatened to the end, but Anthony Leal’s pair of free throws with four seconds left clinched Indiana’s first victory over a ranked team since the 2022-23 season.

The zone was something Indiana used in the second half against Michigan. Woodson wanted to stick with it as he felt it worked.

"We held (Michigan) them to 21 points in the second half. This team really gets up and down the floor," Woodson said of Michigan State. "We felt like the only way to slow them down was to play some zone."

It was a zone defense - something Knight almost never used - that preserved Knight's piece of the all-time Big Ten record. Woodson smiled when asked about the irony of using a zone in this cirumstance.

"Me and Jim Todd, one of my consultants, we kid a lot about zone because he was a zone guy when I was in the NBA. I won a playoff series, down one and having to win a game on the road to come home and close it out in seven," said Woodson, referring to a 2010 playoff series between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.

"He convinced me to play a 2-3 zone and we ended up winning that game. I couldn't thank him enough. I've got great coaches who work for me that truly help me with the 2-3 zone. We worked on it the last few days and it paid off for us tonight," Woodson said.

Indiana started slow. Michigan State used a 10-0 run to take a 20-8 lead with 11:17 left in the first half. Indiana struggled on the boards – the Spartans had 10 second chance points in the first half – and Indiana wasn’t able to make shots. The Hoosiers started 4 of 16 from the field.

Two factors turned the game in the Hoosiers’ favor. One? Indiana’s zone. It stymied the Michigan State offense. The Spartans missed 12 of their final 16 shots of the first half. The zone forced Michigan State into three-point shooting mode – not its forte. Michigan State was 2 of 12 from long range in the first half.

Indiana also put faith in its two-big lineup. Sometimes maligned, Indiana was at its best in the first half with Ballo and Reneau on the floor together. Ballo started, Reneau did not, but they came together nicely.

"There's a lot of media going out there about me and Ballo and it felt good to get a win with me and Ballo together," Reneau said.

Ballo was the scoring recipient. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Reneau did not make his shots, but he had eight rebounds.

They both put pressure on Michigan State’s bigs. Carson Cooper had three fouls at halftime. Jaxon Kohler and Szymon Zapala had two at the break.

Indiana gradually used these advantages to take the lead. Indiana closed the first half with a 9-0 run. A Ballo free throw with 1:57 left put Indiana in front and the Hoosiers led 32-29 at halftime.

Michigan State’s drought stretched into the second half. The Sparatns missed nine shots in a row before they finally broke out of their dry spell. Indiana built its lead to 38-29 just after halftime.

The Hoosiers forced six Michigan State turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Reneau, who made just 1 of 8 from the field in the first half, heated up in the second half. He made three of his first five shots. There would be more coming.

"I was getting frustrated with myself early on, but coach came up to me and told me to go straight to the rim. That's what I started doing. In the second half, I was doing it and it worked for me," Reneau said.

The Spartans had a counter-measure for Indiana’s zone in the second half. They put Frankie Fidler in the middle of the zone and let him work. He made a shot and drew a foul on another – Ballo’s fourth. Michigan State was able to stay within range of the Hoosiers.

With Ballo out, Indiana stayed in its zone and Fidler would score against it again, but Michigan State’s bigs were in foul trouble too. Reneau took advantage.

After Michigan State had cut Indiana’s lead to 52-50, the junior forward took over. He scored four of Indiana’s six buckets in a run that saw the Hoosiers take a 61-52 lead with 3:14 left.

"I can't say enough about Malik. I went to him before the game and told him he wasn't starting. That didn't sit well with him, but he said, 'Coach, whatever you need to me to do.' He came in and played his ass off. That's all you can for. It's about team," Woodson said.

Michigan State put a press on Indiana to try to get back in the game and knocked the Hoosiers off-balance. The Spartans went on a 6-0 run to cut Indiana’s lead down to a single possession with 1:27 left.

It was a tense stand-off for the rest of the game, but Indiana persevered. Michigan State got within two points twice and then sliced Indiana’s lead to 65-64 with 14 seconds left.

Indiana then had a bit of good fortune. On an inbounds pass that was likely going to take Mackenzie Mgbako out of bounds, Jeremy Fears shoved Mgbako as the ball arrived. Fears was called for the foul and Mgbako made both free throws to make it 67-64.

After that, Indiana made all of its remaining free throws. When Tre Holloman missed on purpose with Indiana leading 69-67, Leal rebounded and made the clinching free throws to give Indiana a huge victory.

"Everyone knows what the situation is now. So we're coming together. We're going to play as hard as we can every time we step on the court. That's what we're trying to do," Reneau said.

Indiana hosts UCLA on Friday. After that, Indiana will get a much-needed nine-day sabbatical before it plays again.

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