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| Photo Credit: Mike Granse- USA TODAY Sports |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.— Revenge can be sweet and for the No.
6-ranked Michigan State Spartans (18-3 6-2 Big Ten), they wrote a wrong from
last season in an 87-73 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini (10-11, 0-8 Big
Ten) at the State Farm Center.
After a 73-70 loss to Illinois in the last meeting on March
1, 2017, Michigan State came out with a purpose and sophomore Miles Bridges put
together his most complete game of the season with a game-high 31 points, on
11-of-13 from the field, to go along with eight rebounds.
The majority of Bridges’ 31 points came off precision passes
from Cassius Winston and Tum Tum Nairn. Bridges also used the baseline to his
advantage with repeated cuts to the rim, which the Illini defenders could not
stop.
13 of MSU’s 15 assists came from Winston (game-high eight
assists) and Nairn as Michigan State dominated on both sides of the ball.
Illinois’ lack of depth off the bench with its big men got
exploited as Michigan State finished with a 35-15 advantage in the rebound
department.
22 of Kipper Nichols’ career-high 27 points came in the
second half as the Illini pulled as close as eight points with 1:03 left, but
dropped to 0-8 in the Big Ten for the first time in school history.
The Illini came out aggressive on defense early as they
forced the Spartans into a couple of turnovers, which translated into baskets
as the game was knotted at six.
In need of a confidence boost, Izzo turned to the MSU bench
as Nairn made an impact in short time on an alley oop pass to Bridges
for the thunderous dunk and subsequent foul call to put the Spartans up 9-6 at
the 15:47 mark of the first half.
As the turnover woes settled for the
Spartans, more would be made as Winston would be substituted for Nairn
after committing his second foul 6:55 into the game.
Despite nine turnovers committed, MSU channeled open
backdoor looks as Bridges continued to flush dunks with ease as it clung to a
25-24 advantage over Illinois. The Spartans looked more fluid on offense as
they would string together a 10-2 run over 3:46.
Michigan State led for the remainder of the first
half and took a 39-32 lead despite 15 turnovers committed.
The start of the second half saw a complete Spartan team as
the turnovers were a distant memory and they used a combination of size and
speed, highlighted by another Bridges alley oop dunk to expand the lead to
48-36, 2:35 into the second half.
The Spartans continued to grasp more control as the Illini’s
Leron Black went out the game with his fourth foul at the 16:52 mark. To make
matters worse, the Illini missed eight of their first nine shots to start the
second half, which helped aid the Spartans.
Black’s foul trouble opened the door for MSU to go full
throttle on a 9-2 run to take a 62-44 lead on Illinois and would not look back.
Looking Ahead:
The Illini look for their elusive first win in the Big Ten
as the Indiana Hoosiers make the trip to Champaign on Jan. 24, while the
Spartans host the Wisconsin Badgers at the Breslin Center on Jan. 26.
Social Media:
Follow Geno Green on Twitter @TheGenoGreen.
Follow College Sports Overload on Twitter @CSportsOverload.
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