EAST LANSING, Mich. — Victor Oladipo’s go-ahead putback, dunk and free throws in the final minute lifted top-ranked Indiana to a 72-68 win over No. 4 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
Indiana (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) broke a first-place tie in the conference and moved a step closer toward earning top seeding next month in the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers had lost 17 straight — since 1991 — on the road against the Spartans.
Michigan State blew opportunities at the line.
Trailing by three with 3.7 seconds left, Gary Harris was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He missed the first one and then after making the second, missed the third on purpose. Indiana got the rebound — Oladipo got to it, of course — and he hit two free throws to seal the win.
Keith Appling had missed the front end of a one and one with a little more than a minute left.
Michigan State (22-5, 11-3) had won five straight and 11 of 12 with its only loss during the stretch at Indiana.
Oladipo, who sprained his left ankle in his last game, had 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
Cody Zeller had 17 points — nearly doubling what he had in the previous matchup against Michigan State — while Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford scored 12 each for the Hoosiers.
Harris had 19 points, Adreian Payne scored 17 and the rest of their teammates struggled offensively.
No. 15 Butler 68, Duquesne 49: Rotnei Clarke scored 16 points and Khyle Marshall added 14 to lead Butler past reeling Duquesne.
The Bulldogs (22-5, 9-3 Atlantic 10) have won five of their last six and managed to keep pace with league-leading Virginia Commonwealth, which went into the night with a one-game lead over Butler and a 1/2 game lead over St. Louis.
Duquesne (8-18, 1-11) was led by Derrick Colter with 11 points and Jerry Jones with nine but lost for the 15th time in 17 games.
It took Butler a while to warm up. Once they did, it was no contest.
The Bulldogs used built a 23-14 lead late in the first half and extended it to 36-22 at the break.
Butler scored 13 of the first 20 points in the second half to make it 49-29 and the Dukes never got closer than 15 again.
No. 17 Marquette 67, Seton Hall 46: Vander Blue scored 19 points and Marquette used a sizeable rebounding advantage to beat Seton Hall.
The win enabled the Golden Eagles (19-6, 10-3 Big East) to hold onto first place in the conference with their fourth win in the last five outings. The Pirates (13-14, 2-12) dropped below the .500 mark for the first time this season — their worst league mark in 29 years.
Marquette went on a 17-0 run over a 5:38 span of the second half, right after Seton Hall grabbed a 33-32 lead. The Golden Eagles used theirs size advantage to take control, with Devante Gardner (18 points) scoring eight during that span.
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