In what’s become a rare sight for the Indiana Hoosiers, head coach Mike Woodson and company came away with a road victory against a ranked opponent Tuesday night. After trailing by twelve points halfway through the first half, the Hoosiers gradually took control of the contest on Michigan State’s home floor, eventually coming away with a 71-67 victory.
On a night when Spartan head coach Tom Izzo had hoped to become the Big Ten’s all-time leader in conference wins, Michigan State could not find the basket against a tight Indiana defense. The Spartans missed three after three, shooting 4/23 from beyond the three-point arc on the evening.
The Hoosiers struggled shooting the three as well but were buoyed by a pair of double-doubles from big men Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau. Reneau scored sixteen of his nineteen points in the second half and kept the Hoosiers afloat during an attempted rally by Michigan State late in the game.
The win improves the Hoosiers to 15-10 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten. With the Big Ten Conference Tournament looming next month, the win over the Spartans may prove vital for the Hoosiers' seeding in the tournament.
Here are three takeaways from the Hoosiers’ hard-fought win in East Lansing.
The Indiana Hoosiers’ Tournament Hopes Aren’t Completely Dead
Coming into Tuesday night’s contest, Indiana’s NCAA Tournament hopes looked dead in the water. They were riding a five-game losing streak, had only one win in their last eight contests, and head coach Mike Woodson had announced his intention to step down at the end of the season. Their season was seemingly spiraling towards disappointment. Indiana, however, showed that they won’t go out without a fight.
Despite a late rally attempt from the Spartans, Indiana had the resilience and the toughness to eke out a win in an incredibly hostile environment. The loss was the Spartans’ first home loss of the season. The win gives the Hoosiers an important Quad 1 victory that will help bolster their hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The win Tuesday helps, but the Hoosiers will need to do more to secure their spot in March Madness. With Quad 1 games looming against the likes of UCLA and Purdue, followed by the Big Ten Tournament, if the Hoosiers can rattle off more solid wins then their case will only grow stronger.
Malik Reneau Is Back
Junior forward Malik Reneau’s season hasn’t gone completely to plan. A knee injury against Rutgers on January 2 sidelined him for five games, and since returning to the lineup he’s struggled to find his shot, averaging only 7.4 points per game on 37.2% shooting. The first half against Michigan State appeared to be more of the same, with Reneau only notching three points in the game’s opening twenty minutes.
However, Reneau turned on the jets in the second half. The forward scored 16 of Indiana’s 39 second-half points en route to a 19-point, 12-rebound performance off the bench. It was his first double-double since a December 3 Hoosier win over Sam Houston State.
Head coach Mike Woodson was effusive in his praise of the junior after the game, saying that his decision to not start Reneau lit a fire under the player:
“I can't say enough about Malik because I went to him before the game and told him he wasn't starting. That didn't sit well with him, but he said, 'Coach, whatever you need me to do.' He came in and played his [expletive] off. That's all you can ask for.”
It’s Go Big Or Go Home For The Hoosiers
Indiana has spent the majority of 2025 searching for ways to win games, and against Michigan State it may have found the answer: feed their bigs. To put it simply, the Hoosiers dominated the interior against a Spartan team that’s hallmark is physical interior basketball. Alongside the 6’9” Reneau’s 19 points and 12 rebounds, 7’0” center Oumar Ballo put up 14 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Michigan State simply had no answers for the Indiana bigs, who scored bucket after bucket in Tuesday’s contest.
Tom Izzo on Indiana's Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo:
— Jack Ankony (@ankony_jack) February 12, 2025
"They had not played those two together hardly at all, and they played them a lot together tonight. So that made a big difference, too, I think. Usually we have enough bigs to handle that, but we didn't tonight." #iubb
A major bonus of focusing on post-play: your opponent can (and in many cases, will) get into foul trouble. The Spartans committed 24 fouls on the evening, with center Carson Cooper fouling out in only sixteen minutes of action. Forwards Jaxon Kohler and Frankie Fidler also struggled with foul trouble, finishing the game with four fouls each.
Foul trouble will limit the physicality Indiana’s opponents can play with, giving their bigs more room to operate inside the paint. The blueprint for the remainder of the Hoosiers’ season was laid out on Tuesday, and now it’s time for Mike Woodson and company to capitalize.
The Hoosiers will hope to continue Tuesday's momentum on Friday, February 14 when they host the UCLA Bruins. UCLA is coming off an 83-78 loss against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday.