No. 11 Spartans Dump Hoosiers

Michigan State, the preseason favorite for the Big Ten championship, is living up to expectations.

The 11th-ranked Spartans beat No. 18 Indiana 73-59 Sunday for their first win at Assembly Hall since 1990 and only their ninth in 44 trips to Bloomington.

"That was as good as we could play on the road. We just started doing a lot of things, shots started going in for us," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after his team held Indiana scoreless for more than eight minutes in the second half.

Mateen Cleaves had 16 points and 13 assists to lead the Spartans. Indiana, which shot 63 percent in the first half, trailed 38-34 at the break. The Hoosiers managed to cut the deficit to one early in the second half, but faded as the Spartans scored 11 consecutive points during a 14-1 run.

The run came when Indiana turned from its traditional man-to-man defense and went to a zone.

"The coaches have done a good job all year of recognizing when to go into a zone," Cleaves said. "We do a good job of communicating and helping each other out in the zone. The zone is only good if you communicate and help each other out."

Cleaves had a 3-pointer and a three-point play as Michigan State pulled away when the Hoosiers failed to score from the 16-minute mark until there was 7:55 to play.

Michigan State, which has won five straight overall and leads the Big Ten, opened a 61-46 lead with a 14-1 run that ended on a 3-pointer by Jason Klein with 7:41 left.

The Spartans (16-4, 5-1) led 47-45 before Indiana's Kirk Haston scored on a layup with 16 minutes to play. Michigan State then scored 11 consecutive points, capped by a Cleaves 3-pointer.

Indiana (16-6, 3-4) didn't get another field goal until 7:41 remained. The Hoosiers' leading scorer, Luke Recker, ended his team's drought on a free throw with 7:55 left. It was the only point the sophomore scored in the game; he missed six sots from the field.

"Antonio Smith, his game never gets any credit for much. I thought he did a great job of stepping out of all those picks and any time that Recker came out, he was there to help out," Izzo said.

A.J. Guyton topped Indiana with 23 points and Haston had 11. Reserve Morris Peterson and Jason Klein had 13 apiece for the Spartans, who had lost six straight at Assembly Hall.

Despite shooting 63 percent in the first half, Indiana trailed 38-34 at the break after nearly wiping out a 16-point deficit. The Hoosiers shot 38 percent (11-for-29) in the second half while Michigan State shot 52 percent (13-for-25).

Michigan State came out fast and opened a 28-14 lead on a three-point play by Charlie Bell with 8:04 left in the first half. Peterson sparked the early run by Michigan State with nine consecutive points.

Guyton scored 14 straight points, including two consecutive 3-pointers, within a four-minute span. After going scoreless for the game's first 13 minutes, the guard began his run with 6:46 left in the half with Indiana down 30-14. His jumper with 2:55 remaining left Indiana trailing 34-28 and his 16th point of the half reduced Michigan State's lead to 36-34.

Guyton was the only Indiana starter on the court during the comeback run and sensing he had the hot hand, his teammates kept getting the ball to him. He was 6-of-8 from the field in the opening half, when Indiana made 14 of 22 attempts.

"We knew he was going to hit some shots. We just wanted to minimize and make him earn everything he got," Cleaves said of Guyton. "He hit some shots with people in his face. ... Everybody did a good job in the second half in helping out on him."

Indiana coach Bob Knight went back to his starters to open the second half, a move he later called a mistake.

"I tried to go with a lineup that I thought could get us started in the second half," said Knight, who did not make any of his players available for comment. "It was a mistake. ... Michigan State is just a better basketball team than we are. They play harder than we do, and they certainly play better defensively."

The Hoosiers were hurt by 11 turnovers in the first half. Michigan State scored 15 of its points following Indiana turnovers.

Michigan State wound up scoring 22 points following 18 Indiana turnovers.

"Any time you come into Indiana and win a game, it's a big win for you," Cleaves said.

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