An emphatic fist pump by one followed by a guttural howl from the other.

But as the final bell readied to ring, it was Indiana delivering one final knockout shot, leaving MSU on the canvas, unable to get up.

The No. 13 MSU men’s basketball team (17-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) was unable to pull off the upset in Bloomington, Ind. Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 7 Indiana (18-2, 6-1), 75-70, before a capacity crowd at Assembly Hall.

A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Travis Trice cut Indiana’s lead to one point, 69-68, with just under five minutes remaining.

Both teams exchanged baskets before a free throw from senior forward Christian Watford and a driving layup by sophomore center Cody Zeller extended Indiana’s lead to four, 74-70, drawing an MSU timeout with 1:26 remaining.

After hitting five 3-pointers earlier in the game, freshman guard Gary Harris was unable to hit a sixth coming out of the timeout, giving the Hoosiers the ball back.

Serenaded with boos and chants of “Gary sucks!” the entire afternoon seemed to spur on the freshman Harris, who returned to his home state of Indiana for the first time since spurning the Hoosiers for MSU and delivered one of the best performances of his young career.

Harris scored 21 points and was one of three Spartans to score in double figures, with sophomore guard/forward Branden Dawson putting in 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while junior center Adreian Payne scored 18 points with nine rebounds, including a career-high three 3-pointers.

Junior guard Keith Appling fouled out with three points, zero assists and four turnovers for MSU.
After junior guard Victor Oladipo was unable to convert an acrobatic layup for Indiana, MSU regained possession and called timeout.

On the ensuing possession Payne was called for a charge on a layup attempt with 14 seconds remaining, all but sealing the victory for Indiana.