No. 6 Michigan State Falls Short at Indiana, 63-62

Bloomington, Ind. - Michigan State had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but a last-second shot fell short and the sixth-ranked Spartans lost to Indiana, 63-62, in a Big Ten Conference game at Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) led the Spartans with 20 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while adding four blocked shots, and redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the 3-point line.

Records
Michigan State has a five-game win streak end and falls to 23-6 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten Conference, while Indiana improves to 15-14 overall and 6-12 in league play.

Summary

Michigan State led for more than 36 minutes and still maintained a six-point edge, 62-56, after senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) hit a jumper with 4:13 to play.
The Spartans, however, would go scoreless over the final 4:13 as Indiana drew closer. A 3-pointer from Devonte Green with 3:20 left made it 62-59, Justin Smith hit a free throw with 2:44 left to make it 62-60 and a three-point play from Juwan Morgan with 1:46 to play gave the Hoosiers their first lead of the game, 63-62.
The Spartans had the ball back with 28 seconds left, but a baseline jumper from Winston in the final seconds was off the mark.
The Spartans took a 35-28 lead at the break and extended it to 39-28 after baskets from Winston and Tillman to open the second half, forcing IU to call a timeout.
A driving layup from Winston – who scored eight of the team's first 10 points in the second half – gave the Spartans a 45-35 lead 13:50 left.
The Hoosiers cut the lead to 45-44, but MSU pushed the lead back to 51-44 after a 3-pointer from Goins at the 11:14 mark and a three-point play from Tillman with 10:21 left.
Indiana narrowed the gap to two points, but MSU pushed the margin back to six points on McQuaid's basket before the final run.
Michigan State jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, with a 3-pointer from Winston at the 16:52 mark forcing Indiana to call a timeout.
The Spartans extended their lead to 10 points, 18-8, on a jumper from McQuaid with 13:02 left, but a three-point plan from IU's Justin Smith – who scored 16 points in the first half – cut the MSU lead to 20-14.
A 7-1 run from the Spartans, capped by a 3-pointer from Goins, gave MSU its biggest lead of the half, 27-15, with 6:03 left.
Freshman forward Thomas Kithier (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) hit a layup to give MSU a 35-26 lead with 1:16 left and the Spartans had a chance to push the lead to double-digits before going into the break with a 35-28 lead.

Key Stats

Indiana out-rebounded Michigan State, 31-30, including 20-11 in the second half … The Hoosiers collected 15 offensive rebounds.
The Spartans committed 14 turnovers and Indiana scored 15 points off turnovers.
Michigan State attempted only five free throws and hit four.
Indiana connected on nine 3-point field goals.
led for more than 36 minutes and still maintained a six-point edge, 62-56, after senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) hit a jumper with 4:13 to play.

Notes

Indiana swept the season series from Michigan State.
MSU connected on 54.2 percent of its field goals, the 16th time this season the team has shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
Michigan State limited Indiana to 37.7 percent shooting, the 22nd time this season an opponent shot below 40 percent from the floor.
The Spartans attempted a season-low five free throws and hit a season-low four.
This was the first time MSU had attempted five or fewer free throws in a game since Jan. 28, 2016 against Northwestern (four).
Winston scored 20 points to lead the way. It was his 16th game this season with at least 20 points and his 28th game in double figures.
Winston now has 1,235 points in his career and moved into 31st on the all-time MSU scoring list.
He also handed out 11 assists, his sixth game with double-figure assists and the 25th game this season with at least six assists.
This was Winston's fifth double-double this season and the 10th of his career.
Tillman had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double this year.
He has scored in double figures 13 times this season and collected double-figure rebounds seven times.
This was Tillman's 14th game this season with at least two blocked shots.
Goins scored 14 points, his ninth game in double figures this season.
Goins also connected on a career-high four 3-pointers.

Up Next
Michigan State hosts Nebraska at the Breslin Center on Tueday, March 5. The game airs on ESPN2 at 7 p.m., with Dave Flemming, Dan Dakich and Molly McGrath calling all of the action.

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Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Kenny Goins

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Aaron Henry

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Thomas Kithier

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Thomas Kithier

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Cassius Winston