Green had just made the first of two free-throw attempts, but an Indiana timeout gave him a little extra time to think about the magnitude of his second try and a chance for head coach Tom Izzo to give him some simple instructions.

“The only thing he said was when we broke the huddle, he tapped me and said, ‘Go knock it down,’” Green said.

So Green stepped to the Breslin Center free-throw line, did exactly what he was told and sent the game to overtime — without an ounce of nervousness in his body.

“I just had to go out there, stay composed and knock them down,” Green said.

It was the third overtime at Breslin in the last four home games. And much like the last overtime game against Northwestern, where Green also sent the game into overtime by making his free throws, he was the hero of the extra session.

Down one again, with 29 seconds left, Green made a contested layup that turned out to be the game winner, giving the Spartans a much-needed boost after three straight losses.

“Losing three in a row starts weighing on you, and we haven’t been in those situations very much,” Izzo said.

Almost midway through the first half Sunday, it didn’t appear Green was going to have a chance once again to save MSU in overtime.

Less than four minutes into the game, the Spartans were clinging to an early 9-7 lead.

However, sparked by a 3-pointer by forward Christian Watford, Indiana went on an 8-0 run. And when Green seemingly stopped the bleeding by hitting a 3-pointer of his own, the Hoosiers quickly scored nine more straight points, forcing MSU head coach Tom Izzo to call a timeout, down 24-12 with 11:38 left in the half.

Fortunately for Izzo, though, the Spartans responded almost immediately following the timeout.
With Indiana holding a 26-15 lead, MSU rattled off 12 straight points, with seven consecutive coming from Green. Senior guard Kalin Lucas’ two free throws capped the run and gave the Spartans a 27-26 lead, their first in almost 10 minutes.

The final six minutes of the half saw both teams battle back and forth, as the underdog Hoosiers took a 43-40 lead into the break by shooting a blistering 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from the 3-point line.

In the second half, the Hoosiers’ hot shooting continued, and Indiana built a 60-52 lead with less than 15 minutes to play.

An 11-0 run gave the Spartans the lead back with nine minutes left, but like it had all game, Indiana bounced back and led 78-75 in the final minute.

Following a bucket for Lucas and one free throw for the Hoosiers, Green drew the foul that gave him the chance to hit his free throws and send it to overtime.

The overtime session was ugly, with the teams combining for only three field goals. However, MSU’s one field goal was all it needed to pull out the win.

Indiana, which lost for the 16th consecutive time at Breslin, was led by Watford’s 21 points.

“Our guys really believed they could win,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean said.

“When the energy is like that in the locker room, it’s the ultimate. The only thing that would have made it better would be a win.

The Spartans go on the road for games at Iowa and Wisconsin this week, where Izzo said he simply hopes to continue to see improvement.

“It’s not where we wanted to be,” Izzo said of his team’s record. “But there’s a lot of teams in the same position we’re in, and we’re just going to have to keep trying to get better.”