Indiana basketball had what could be defined as their biggest win of the season against No. 11 Michigan State last night. In a game where it seemed like David vs. Goliath with Indiana coming in on a five-game losing streak and Michigan State being the team to beat in the Big Ten all season long, everyone thought Goliath would prevail in this one.
Indiana came in with a different plan though and were ready for whatever the Spartans had to throw at them. Walking into the hostile environment of the Breslin Center, the Hoosiers were ready for a battle in front of a packed house. Michigan State pulled away with an early lead, but Indiana, behind the efforts of Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau, were able to fight for a small lead heading into halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Hoosiers started to build their lead, one that would be vital later in the game. The Hoosiers got up by as much as nine points twice in the second half but Michigan State wasn't going to go down without a fight. Even though the Hoosiers never gave up their lead, the Spartans made them work for it, but when it came down to defense and making free throws, the Hoosiers excelled at both and were able to walk away with a 71-67 win over Michigan State.
After the game, head coach Mike Woodson spoke with the NBC Sports desk analysts and gave more insight into how Indiana walked away with such a big win. Knowing the type of game that Michigan State likes to play, Woodson slowed it down and put the team into a zone defense, one he said saved the team and helped them stay out of foul trouble. Woodson couldn't point to just one guy though, he gave credit to his whole team.
"It was a total team effort man, we needed a win badly," Woodson told NBC Sports. "These guys have been down and I get it as their coach and we have just been scraping and scratching trying to find a win."
There has been a lot of talk around Indiana basketball, first about whether or not Woodson would be fired at the end of the season, then around Woodson choosing to step down adn retire once the season ends, but with six regular season games left, Woodson is keeping his team focused on one thing.
"There's a lot of basketball still left," Woodson said. "We got six more games and I just gotta get these guys to believe, that's what it's all about, we are playing to get into the tournament and anything can happen."
Woodson is right, anything can happen, because the win against Michigan State just boosted Indiana's resume adn they still have another ranked matchup on their schedule as well as some Quad 1 games. Even with all the noise of everything that is set to happen once the season ends, there is still basketball left to be played and that is all Indiana needs to be focused on.