Victor Oladipo would not let Indiana be the latest No. 1 to lose on the road. Oladipo stole the ball by the sideline, threw it back to Kevin Ferrell as he ran out-of-bounds and back on the court to catch a return pass in stride and dunk it home for a 61-60 lead with 5:55 to play. In the final minute he tipped in a miss to put Indiana up again 68-67, then ran away from a press for a long pass and dunk to make it 60-57, before hitting the final free throws for a 72-68 win.
He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals to give Indiana their first road win against Michigan State in 22 years, and make Indiana the best team in the best conference, as the broke a first place tie with Michigan State.
Value Add pegged Indiana as clearly the top team in the country for 2013 they day after Kentucky won the title in 2012, but it also pegged Cody Zeller as the top preseason player in the country.
Zeller has played like an All-American again this year, and added 17 points and five rebounds against Michigan State, but Oladipo has nudged passed him as the potential National Player of the Year.
The Spartans had one last chance when Gary Harris was fouled on a three-point attempt for a chance to tie the game 71-71 with 3.7 seconds left, but he missed the first shot to follow-up on a missed front end of a one and one by Keith Appling just before Oladipo’s final heroics.
In their last 13 games, Michigan State is 11-0 against everyone except Indiana, getting swept by the Hoosiers.
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