Indiana University Athletics
IU Upends No. 9 Spartans
2/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
February 27, 2005
Bloomington, Ind. - Behind a season-high 32 points from junior guard Bracey Wright and 17 points from freshman forward D.J. White, the Indiana Hoosiers recorded a 78-74 upset win over No. 9/10 Michigan State in overtime Sunday afternoon in Assembly Hall. With the win, Indiana improves to 14-11 overall and 9-5 in conference play. The victory over the Spartans was the program's 400th win in Assembly Hall.
In addition, the win over Michigan State marked Indiana's first conquest over a top-10 team since the 2002-03 season, when the Hoosiers defeated then-No. 9 Maryland, 80-74 on Dec. 3, 2002.
Wright, who scored 17 of his 32 points in the first half, was 9-of-14 for the game including 5-of-8 from three-point range. He hit a key three pointer to extend the IU lead to six at 72-66 in the overtime period with 41 seconds left.
White scored 13 of his 17 points in the second and overtime periods going 7-of-8 from the field during that span. As a team, Indiana shot a season-high 53.3 percent from the field on 24-of-45 shooting. Junior guard Marshall Strickland chipped in with 13 points, including a career-high eight assists, with only one turnover.
In the overtime period, junior center Paul Davis gave Michigan State an early two-point lead on a dunk 15 seconds into the extra frame off an assist from senior guard Chris Hill
After sophomore guard Roderick Wilmont hit 1-of-2 free throws to bring IU within one at 66-65 with 3:08 left, White brought the Assembly Hall crowd to its feet as he received a pass from Strickland and laid it in with 3:24 remaining to give IU its first lead of game since 12:24 left in the second period. On the next trip down the court, White and Strickland hooked up again this time for a rim-shaking dunk to give Indiana a 69-66 lead with 1:38 left in overtime.
After Wright's three-pointer pushed the IU lead to six points, senior forward Alan Anderson rebounded a missed three-pointer by junior guard Maurice Ager and laid it in to trim the margin to 72-68.
However, the Hoosiers were a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe over the final 30 seconds in overtime to seal the win.
Near the end of regulation, Michigan State had a six-point lead at 64-58 as Ager hit a three pointer off of an assist from Hill. Strickland began the IU comeback on a jumper with 2:22 remaining to cut the lead to 64-60.
Wright brought IU back within two at 64-62 after hitting two free throws with 90 seconds left.
After a Michigan State turnover, Indiana went inside to White as he posted up Matt Trannon and hit a hook shot to tie score at 64 with 16 seconds left.
Torbert's game-winning attempt fell short sending the game into overtime tied at 64.
The first half saw Michigan State jump out to an early 6-0 lead before Indiana responded with a 19-3 run over the next four minutes to take a 19-9 lead. Wright led the IU attack as he scored 13 of the team's 19 points.
Michigan State responded with an 11-3 run over the final five and a half minutes of the opening half. Tim Bograkos tied the game up at 28 on a lay in with 1:49 remaining in the first.
Strickland broke the four-minute IU scoring drought, as he hit a three pointer off of an a assist from Vaden with 1:20 left in the first half, giving IU a 31-28 advantage at the break.
Indiana played the majority of the first half without White, its second leading scorer, as he went to the bench early picking up two fouls just over six minutes of action.
The Hoosiers look to extend their winning streak to four games as they travel to Madison, Wis. to take on No. 20 Wisconsin on Tuesday, March 1 in the Kohl Center. Tip off is for 9 p.m. EST on ESPN.
