"We were supposed to run a blur (a play where two players run together close enough to create space, similar to a pick play in football), and (senior forward Kenny Goins) just kind of ran by him, so that was disappointing," MSU coach Tom Izzo said of the last play. "We were gonna isolate Cassius on that side, just because we had no time left. We didn’t execute that very well." 

Indiana sophomore forward Justin Smith led all scorers with 24 points in 34 minutes, to help snap MSU’s five-game win streak and deal a serious blow to their Big Ten title hopes.

"I was due to hit some shots," Smith said. "My teammates kept giving me confidence, told me keep shooting it, and that's what I did."

A three from Goins appeared to give MSU some breathing room with 6:21 left, with the Spartan lead stretching to 59-51. However, Indiana closed the game on a 12-3 run punctuated by an and-one by senior forward Juwan Morgan with 1:46 remaining. The Spartans did not score for the final 4:13 of the game. The Hoosiers led just twice all game – a 2-0 lead, and the 63-62 final margin.

The players who helped the Hoosiers upset MSU Feb. 2, 79-75 in East Lansing kept them in the game Saturday, as well. Junior guard Devonte Green scored 11 in the second half, matching his total in East Lansing, including three three-pointers. 

Junior forward De’Ron Davis, who scored 12 points off the bench in Indiana’s Feb. 2, 79-75 overtime victory in East Lansing, checked in with 13:17 remaining and keyed a 9-0 run with his offensive rebounding and forced turnovers. A lay-up by freshman guard Rob Phinisee with 11:46 left cut Michigan State’s lead down to just one point.

In East Lansing, the Hoosiers won the rebounding battle 48-40. The Spartans appeared to have flipped that script in the first half Saturday, grabbing 19 rebounds to Indiana’s 11. However, the Hoosiers out-rebounded MSU 20-11 in the second half, including the crucial offensive board by Morgan before the winning shot.

"The game was lost in the last thing I put on the board, ‘Rebound, rebound, rebound.’ We did a hell of a job in the first half, they just kept running bodies at us, and we didn’t have the bodies to run at them," Izzo said, in reference to the mounting MSU injury list. 

The Spartans are without two starters, junior guard Joshua Langford and junior forward Nick Ward, and redshirt junior forward Kyle Ahrens left the game with a back injury.

The Hoosiers snared 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, to MSU's one.

"They posted up our guards, so it was kind of weird for the bigs to get cut-outs, because we didn’t know if we were supposed to help out or not," sophomore forward Xavier Tillman said. 

Indiana coach Archie Miller agreed the glass was the key to his team's victory.

"At the end of the day, if you don't rebound with Michigan State you have no chance of winning the game," he said. "We were able to rebound the ball, and then we got some timely transition opportunities."

The Hoosiers outscored MSU in transition, 15 to 2.

Winston scored or assisted on MSU’s first six baskets of the second half, including a stretch where he scored on three straight possessions coming out of the under-16 timeout. His 20 points led the Spartans, with Goins and sophomore forward Xavier Tillman also chipping in with 14 and 11 points respectively. 

As Indiana narrowed their focus on Winston defensively, the rest of the team was unable to score enough to hold the Hoosiers at bay.

"They kinda stayed with me," Winston said. "Didn’t let me get too much space, where I could roam and have that freedom, so they made it tougher on that, getting the ball out of my hands."

Michigan State rode hot shooting and a pair of 7-0 runs to a sizable first-half lead. The Spartans out-shot Indiana 60 percent to 34 percent from the field. However, MSU turned the ball over nine times in the first half alone, three more than it did for the entirety of last Sunday’s game against Michigan. 

"Yeah, they were ridiculous," Izzo said of the turnovers. "Between (freshman forward Aaron Henry) and Kenny, they were not forced turnovers."

Winston led the Spartans with nine points and seven assists in the first half, accounting in one way or another for all but five Michigan State baskets in the half. Smith eclipsed his previous season high of 15 points in the first half alone, scoring 16 on 6-of-10 shooting.

Michigan State returns home to face Nebraska (15-14, 5-13 Big Ten) Tuesday night, while the Hoosiers head to Champaign for a date with Illinois (10-18, 6-11 Big Ten) Thursday night.