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USATSI

Down on its luck Indiana is looking up, finally, after an impressive 79-75 overtime road victory over No. 6 Michigan State on Saturday night.

The Hoosiers came in with every excuse to fold against the No. 6 Spartans -- and picked up more along the way. They brought with them a pesky seven-game losing skid they haven't been able to shed, endured an early-game injury from second-leading scorer Juwan Morgan, who played 12 minutes but left and did not return, and still prevailed to achieve one of the more gritty wins yet under Archie Miller.

During their recent skid, the Hoosiers (13-9, 4-7 Big Ten) haven't done much of anything well. They haven't shot well, haven't taken care of the ball, haven't scored at a high-enough rate to win games. So it comes with a bit of irony that Saturday, IU found its greatest success by ... fouling.

The Hoosiers fouled Nick Ward, then Xavier Tillman. They fouled Alex Henry, then Matt McQuaid. One by one, shot by shot, IU's hack-a-Sparty strategy paid off. Michigan State (18-4, 9-2) made just 9 of its 21 free-throw attempts, including some very critical ones down the stretch that let Indiana push the game to OT, that ultimately decided the game.

IU's outlook is instantly brighter now. It will need to pad its resume with more quality wins, to be sure, but this shorthanded road win led by freshman Romeo Langford, who had 19, and sophomore Aljami Durham and Justin Smith, who had 14 and 13 points, respectively, could be an inflection point. If the Hoosiers can use this as a launching pad they could fulfill their lofty preseason projections, which had them comfortably in the field of 68 come Selection Sunday.

That's a long ways from where we sit on Feb. 2, sure, but with Langford leading the way and IU's youngsters growing up immensely in the span of one night, it doesn't seem as farfetched as it did during that gauntlet of a seven-game losing streak.