Victor Oladipo shook off a sprained left ankle with a spectacular performance to lift top-ranked Indiana to a 72-68 win over No. 4 Michigan State on Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich.
Oladipo’s go-ahead putback, dunk and free throws in the final minute gave him 19 points to go with nine rebounds, five steals and a blocked shot. Not bad for a guy who didn’t play after halftime of his previous game, just three days earlier, because of the injury.
Indiana (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) broke a first-place tie in the conference with four games left in the regular season.
The Hoosiers had lost 17 in a row — since 1991 — on the road against the Spartans (22-5, 11-3).
Trailing by three with 3.7 seconds left, Gary Harris was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He missed the first one — setting off sighs in the sold-out arena — and after making the second, he deliberately missed the third.
Oladipo got the rebound, and he hit two free throws to seal the win.
Harris led the Spartans with 19 points, and Keith Appling, Michigan State’s leading scorer, was held to six points on 1-for-8 shooting.
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