Michigan State University
Indiana
Spartans Take Down No. 23 Indiana, 57-54
2/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 24, 2002
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Tom Izzo looked Marcus Taylor in the eye and told him to take over. The sophomore guard did.
Taylor scored 16 points, including eight over the final 3:21, and had eight assists as Michigan State rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat No. 23 Indiana 57-54 Sunday.
"I kind of smiled a little bit," Taylor said of Izzo's request, "because I realized what I had to do to win this game,"
The Spartans (17-10, 8-6 Big Ten) kept themselves in position for an NCAA tournament bid with their eighth win in the last 11 games and by improving their record against ranked teams to 5-5.
"Wow, what a win," Izzo said with a hoarse voice. "That had to go down as one of the better ones we've had, in terms of not giving up."
The Hoosiers (18-9, 10-4) can still win their first Big Ten title since 1993, but are now tied with Ohio State and are just one-half game ahead of Wisconsin after losing for the ninth straight time in the Breslin Center.
Adam Ballinger had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for the Spartans, while Chris Hill added 11 points, three steals and three assists. Ballinger is a Bluffton, Ind., native, and Hill is from Indianapolis.
Jared Jeffries and Tom Coverdale each scored 11 points for Indiana, while Dane Fife added 10.
The Hoosiers led by 16 points on three occasions in the first half, and by eight with eight minutes left. They led by at least four until Taylor began his scoring spurt with 3:21 left.
Taylor made two free throws, then cut Michigan State's deficit to one twice in the final minutes with mid-range jumpers. He assisted on Ballinger's 3-pointer with 53 seconds left that tied the game at 53.
"That was bigger than any points I scored," said Taylor, who didn't have a turnover.
After a miss by Jeffries, Taylor made two free throws with 11 seconds left to put the Spartans ahead 55-53, their second lead of the game and first since there was 17:32 left in first half.
Coverdale missed the second of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left.
"That's why we lost the game," Coverdale said.
Alan Anderson grabbed the rebound, was fouled and scored the final points on free throws.
Coverdale missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Indiana ends the regular season at No. 16 Illinois on Tuesday, and against Northwestern at home Saturday.
"If we want to win the Big Ten, we have to win on Tuesday," Coverdale said. "We have two games left and we just let one get away, and it was big."
The Spartans travel to No. 19 Ohio State on Tuesday, then play host to Iowa on Saturday. The conference tournament starts on March 7 in Indianapolis.
"We still have some work to do," Izzo said.
The Hoosiers missed all seven of their 3-point attempts in the second half, after seemingly making every shot in the first 20 minutes.
"It was them, they made adjustments," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "We made open 3s in the first half, then they contested every shot."
Indiana led 25-9 midway through the first half after going 10-of-17 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Michigan State missed 16 of its first 20 shots.
The Hoosiers' last 16-point lead came with 5:50 to go in the first half.
The Spartans' first comeback was helped when Jeffries picked up his third foul at the 8:20 mark of the first half. Michigan State outscored the Hoosiers 13-4 to close the half and make it 32-25.
After the Spartans pulled within two with 12:49 to go, Jeffries came back into the game with four fouls and four points. Indiana later scored six straight points in just over a minute to take a 42-34 lead with eight minutes to go.
That's when Izzo called a timeout and had the challenging conversation with his point guard.
"I told him for the first time since I've had him, 'We recruited you to be a superstar, this is your chance,"' Izzo said. "He made some great plays, and that's why he's an All-American type player.
"A lot of guys deserve credit, but Marcus took over."
