Bloomington, Ind. - MSU head coach Tom Izzo wouldn't suggest to anyone in the world to play the type of schedule his team did last year.
After playing Kansas, Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Syracuse and UCLA in the nonconference conference, the Spartans lost all six games heading into the Big Ten.
But although the schedule stripped his team of a lot of confidence, Izzo suggested that the experience of tough, close games would help MSU.
That's one reason that Izzo knew Sunday's game against Indiana, an NCAA Tournament bubble team, would be a nail-biter.
"Indiana is a good enough team. (Coach) Mike Davis is nuts, like Tom Izzo was," Izzo said.
"(Davis) played a schedule that he wanted to play, a schedule that challenged his team."
Indiana faced five teams in nonconference play that could win a conference title - North Carolina, Kentucky, Charlotte, Connecticut and Oral Roberts.
"That's why it took us so long to become a good basketball team," Davis said. "If we play North Carolina or Michigan State here, what's the difference?"
That left Indiana 5-6 heading into Big Ten play. But maybe that experience paid off on Sunday, when Indiana made most of the big plays.
"If you have enough guts to play a schedule like they did, sooner or later it will help you," Izzo said.
MSU scored its last point of the second half with 2:43 left in the game, and Indiana scored the last six points of the game. MSU had three turnovers in that span.
"We've played enough tough games now to be used to it now," Davis said.
In overtime, MSU shot 5-for-10 and Indiana hit early shots and then nailed 7-of-10 free throws.
"We just had costly turnovers that really hurt us down the stretch," senior guard Kelvin Torbert said.
Izzo said he was disappointed in the energy his wing players brought while the hungrier Indiana team found a way to win.
Rushing favorite
After the game ended, Indiana fans dressed in red and white rushed the court, jumping up and down. Davis said the last time Indiana's men's basketball fans rushed the court at Assembly Hall was Jan. 7, 2001, when Kirk Haston hit a big shot that ironically upset the then-No. 1 Spartans, 59-58.
Close games
The four-point loss drops the Spartans to 2-3 in games decided by 10 or less points. MSU also lost to Duke by seven and Wisconsin by three. The Spartans beat Purdue by seven points and George Mason by six.
"We know that we can win close games," Torbert said. "It's a matter of making plays and learning from this."
