Indiana win much needed for Spartans

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It didn’t matter that MSU was a heavy favorite in the game.

It didn’t matter that the game never should have been that close.

It didn’t matter that Indiana was the second-to-last place team in the Big Ten.

All that mattered was the win — 84-83 in overtime. And that’s all that should matter.

For a team that has fallen from No. 2 in the preseason poll to soon-to-be unranked again, it doesn’t matter if No. 25 MSU only defeated the Hoosiers by one point. All that matters is stopping the bleeding. And the Spartans did. Barely.

“Definitely big for us to get this win tonight,” senior guard Kalin Lucas said. “If we didn’t get this win, then it definitely would have been tougher out here, and there definitely would have been a lot of drama going around here.”

After perhaps two of the lowest weeks in the Tom Izzo era, the Spartans showed just enough fight to keep the season alive.

Yes, keep it alive with half the conference schedule still remaining. After what the team has gone through, try to tell me MSU would have turned things around with two road games and the top Big Ten teams looming on the schedule.

There isn’t a column in a team’s record for “should have won by more.” They all count one.
The team needed this win badly; to get something positive going within the program. After losing junior guard Korie Lucious to a season-long dismissal and losing to archrival Michigan at Breslin Center for the first time since 1997, the Spartans needed anything to keep hope alive.
Even if it was a one-point win over lowly Indiana.

Despite the elite status the MSU men’s basketball program has earned, it needed anything to keep the confidence. The Izzone (and surprisingly, the rest of Breslin) had screamed its lungs out for four straight home games. Twice coming away with overtime wins against Wisconsin and Northwestern, and once having its heart ripped out by Stu Douglass and the hated Wolverines.

This isn’t the same team that was ranked No. 2 in the preseason. Players have left, game plans have changed, and goals have been altered (by fans, maybe not Izzo).

This far into the season, you take any win you can get. Ohio State seemingly might have the conference all but locked up, but behind the Buckeyes are six teams fighting tooth and nail for second place, an NCAA Tourney bid or maybe even a conference championship (put Izzo down here).

A loss Sunday and the streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournaments was in more-than-serious jeopardy. A loss Sunday and the chants of “NIT” would begin at opposing venues. But they’ve been staved off. For now.

There’s no doubt the Spartans have plenty to improve upon. The Hoosiers were the fourth-straight team to make at least 49 percent of their shots, but, other than a few wide-open 3-pointers, most of the made shots were contested.

Even without Lucious, the Spartans’ turnover numbers continue to drop, they’re making their free throws (even sophomore center Derrick Nix made three), and Lucas is as close to top form as ever — scoring 53 points in the last two games.

The Spartan defense hasn’t been as strong, but the last four opponents have hit shots they normally don’t make. That has to stop at some point (right?).

The teachers were talking about it in class. Students couldn’t help but be embarrassed with where the season was going. Spartan fans around the world were looking for extra storage space.

But with this team, and the way this season has gone, even a one-point win over Indiana is giving Spartans hope.

MSU isn’t going to get that No. 2 ranking back. The NCAA Tournament bid still has to be earned. But all the negativity was silenced, albeit briefly I’m sure, as Green high-fived Izzone members after the game with a winning smile on his face.

It was a smile that hasn’t been seen around these parts in what feels like an eternity.

Chris Vannini is a State News sports reporter. He can reached at vanninic@msu.edu.

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