Malik Renea scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to help Indiana beat No. 11 Michigan State 71-67 Tuesday night, leaving Tom Izzo on the brink of breaking Bob Knight’s Big Ten wins record.
The Hoosiers (15-10, 6-8 Big Ten) had lost five straight under coach Mike Woodson, who is stepping down after the season.
The Spartans (19-5, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games, leaving Izzo with 353 Big Ten wins that match the mark Knight set at Indiana while winning three NCAA titles.
Michigan State’s Jaden Akins scored 14 points and Jase Richardson had 13.
Myles Rice had 10 points, including two free throws with 30 seconds left to put the Hoosiers ahead by four points.
Indiana’s Oumar Ballo scored 14 points and Luke Goode had 10.
Takeaways
Indiana: The preseason pick to finish second in the Big Ten that was ranked as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25 in late November showed some of its potential, coming back from a double-digit deficit early in the game to lead at halftime and for the entire second half.
Michigan State: Interior defense was a problem, leading to giving up 38 points in the paint. It didn’t help that Jaxon Kohler was called for a third foul early in the second half and was limited to 18 minutes against a team with multiple low-post options offensively.
Key moment
Mackenzie Mgbako made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left, putting the Hoosiers ahead by three points.
Key stat
The Spartans made just 38.2% of their shots overall and were worse on 3-pointers, connecting on 4-of-23 beyond the arc.
Up next
Michigan State plays at Illinois on Saturday night and Indiana hosts UCLA on Friday night.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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