Al Durham Came Up Clutch Versus MSU (video)
When Durham was a sophomore he keyed a surprising upset of #6 Michigan State
When Al Durham and his Indiana teammates traveled to Michigan State during his sophomore year they were in the midst of the program’s longest losing streak in nearly eight years.
After a 12-2 start to the season (3-0 in conference), Indiana had dropped seven straight, and few expected them to snap that streak against #6 Michigan State. The Spartans hosted ESPN’s College Gameday on this Saturday in February, and even with Indiana losing star forward Juwan Morgan in the first half, the Hoosiers were able to pull off a 79-75 overtime victory.
Indiana withstood a huge night from Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (26 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), and benefitted from big games from future Celtic Romeo Langford (19 points) and Durham (14 points on 4-8 shooting, 3-5 from 3).
Durham was playing through a finger injury at the time, and did little in the first half before breaking through with a three pointer with just over three minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
His second half field goals consisted of a dunk following a baseline cut after Michigan State fell asleep defensively, a three pointer late in the shot clock to give Indiana the lead with 13 minutes to play, then another go-ahead deep one about six minutes later.
“Al Durham has been very good on the offensive end,” Jay Bilas noted on ESPN’s telecast following his third three pointer.
With three minutes left in overtime and Indiana down two, Durham recovered an offensive rebound and found Langford for a 3-pointer. Durham was then fouled on Indiana’s next possession and knocked down both free throws.
He capped his scoring when he made 1-2 free throws with under a minute to play in OT to push the Hoosiers ahead by four. They survived a game-tying attempt by MSU in the closing seconds to seal a surprising win.
Momentum didn’t carry over for Indiana after this one, as they dropped their next five games before going on a late-season push that saw them once again take out Michigan State, as well as Wisconsin, Illinois, and Rutgers.
Durham played both point guard and off of the ball in this one. He made a number of plays in critical moments in a game that was a lot of fun to go back and watch. He finished the night with 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists in 37 minutes. This was the third highest scoring output of his sophomore year, with his biggest night coming when he scored 22 points in the first round of the NIT.
Great read.