Kel’el Ware had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead Indiana to a 65-64 home win over Michigan State on Sunday in the Big Ten regular-season finale for both teams.
Malik Reneau added 16 points for Indiana (18-13, 10-10), which has won four straight.
Tyson Walker scored a game-high 30 points for Michigan State (18-13, 10-10).
Indiana broke a tie at 64-64 with 17.4 seconds left when Ware split a pair of free throws.
Following a timeout, Michigan State put the ball in the hands of Walker, but he couldn’t hit a runner to the right of the basket.
The rebound was tapped away from the rim and Indiana ran out the clock.
With the score knotted at 62-62, Ware hit a basket in the paint to give Indiana the lead with 1:55 remaining.
Walker answered with a layup with 1:29 left to again tie the score.
Trailing 55-48 with 9:48 remaining in the game, Indiana went on an 8-0 run to take a 56-55 lead with 7:58 left to play. The last six points came on 3-pointers by Mackenzie Mgbako and Xavier Johnson.
Michigan State trailed 34-21 with 1:41 left in the first half, but closed the half on an 8-0 run to cut Indiana’s lead to 34-29 at halftime.
The Spartans carried that momentum into the second half, going on a 14-2 run to take a 43-36 lead with 15:23 remaining in the game.
Indiana got off to a terrific start, scoring 12 of the game’s first 15 points and then taking a 24-7 lead with 8:50 remaining in the first half.
Indiana had to play most of the game without senior guard Trey Galloway, who went out in the first half with an apparent left knee injury and didn’t return.
Indiana was winning 20-5 when Galloway left the game.
–Field Level Media