Sunday's college basketball: Michigan State women fall at Indiana, drop second straight

MacKenzie Holmes fired in 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting to lead four players in double figures as Indiana women defeated Michigan State, 79-67, Sunday in Bloomington, Indiana.

Nia Clouden had 19 points for the Spartans (9-4, 4-4 Big Ten), who dropped their second straight after losing to No. 7 Maryland this week. MSU led 41-33 at halftime only to see Indiana (10-4,8-2) go on a 25-15 third-quarter run.

Alisia Smith finished with 17 points and eight rebounds while Janai Smith added 10 points for MSU, which shot 48% (25-of-52) from the field.

Ali Patberg scored 15, Aleska Gulbe 14 and Jaelynn Penn 13 for the Hoosiers, who shot 55% (27-of-49) from the floor, including 70% (7-of-10) on 3-pointers.

Big Ten

►Rutgers 64, (at) Northwestern 56: Jacob Young scored 19 points and Ron Harper Jr. scored all 13 of his in the second half and Rutgers held off Northwestern.

Harper’s three-point play gave Rutgers a 55-40 lead with 6:24 to go before the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run but they never got closer than five the rest of the way.

Geo Baker added 12 points for Scarlet Knights, which overcame 18 turnovers with 20 committed by Northwestern.

The Scarlet Knights (10-6, 6-6 Big Ten Conference) picked up where they left off from their 30-point blowout win over Michigan State on Thursday night and raced to a 22-6 lead over the Wildcats.

Young’s 3-pointer with 8:50 before halftime pushed the lead to 31-11. Northwestern (6-9, 3-8 Big Ten Conference) proceeded to wake up and ran off 13 straight to reduce it deficit to seven; and Rutgers went to halftime up 34-29.

Baker emerged from the break to hit a pair of jump shots for a 38-31 lead and the Scarlet Knights were largely in control the rest of the way.

Miller Kopp scored 15 points for Northwestern and Chase Audige and Ryan Young 14 apiece.

Rutgers has won three straight following a six-game skid and Northwestern has dropped eight in a row.

Rutgers returns home to face No. 21-ranked Minnesota on Thursday while Northwestern is scheduled to travel to play at Purdue on Saturday.

Top 25

►(At) No. 6 Houston 70, SMU: Marcus Sasser scored 19 points and No. 6 Houston beat SMU for its eighth straight win.

Sasser bounced back to make five of his last 10 shots. After scoring just three points in a victory over Tulane on Thursday, he opened 0-for-5 against the Mustangs.

Justin Gorham had nine points and 17 rebounds for Houston (15-1, 10-1 American), which won its 20th consecutive home game. Reggie Chaney added 10 points.

The Cougars won despite shooting only 34%.

Kendric Davis led SMU (9-4, 5-4) with 11 points. Feron Hunt and Yor Anei each scored 10 points for the Mustangs, who made 32% percent of their shots.

Houston led 28-24 at halftime, then went on a 14-3 run, capped by Gorham’s three-point play with 16 minutes left.