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Michigan State beating Illinois was a season-saving win for Spartans

By Mike Phillips

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Rocket Watts #2 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket against Da'Monte Williams #20 of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half at State Farm Center on February 11, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Rocket Watts #2 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket against Da'Monte Williams #20 of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half at State Farm Center on February 11, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Fresh off falling out of the polls, Michigan State snapped a three-game losing streak with a potentially season-saving win vs. Illinois.

It wasn’t pretty but Michigan State found a way to win in Champaign on Tuesday night. Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the second half, Michigan State hung on for a 70-69 win at Illinois, snapping a three-game skid and stopping the bleeding for the Spartans.

Michigan State jumped out to a 37-20 lead in the first half that proved to be just enough for the Spartans, who were outscored 49-33 after the break and briefly relinquished their lead in the final moments. Michigan State didn’t even get a ton of production out of Cassius Winston, who scored 12 points while playing through foul trouble.

The key to victory was the rest of the Spartans stepped up to deliver huge performances, headlined by 21 points from freshman Rocket Watts. Michigan State asked Watts to take on more responsibility with Winston on the bench and he delivered by going 9-14 from the floor, including knocking down a few big shots.

Xavier Tillman also contributed with a big double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Those three, along with Aaron Henry, combined to score 63 of the Spartans’ 70 points on the evening.

It was clear to anyone watching this was a thinner Michigan State unit than usual with only six players seeing the floor for more than 15 minutes. Tom Izzo tightened the rotation to rely more on his core players and they delivered with the Spartans knocking down nearly 50 percent of their field goal attempts.

The second half wasn’t pretty for Michigan State, which allowed the Fighting Illini to score 49 after the break, but they did a good job creating enough misses by switching their defensive looks constantly. Playing without Winston for long stretches due to foul trouble led to some tired legs on the floor at the end but the Spartans prevailed despite the adversity.

This was the kind of character-building win that can redefine a season and for Michigan State to get a road win in this year’s Big Ten is significant. Home teams have dominated in conference play and the Spartans just scored their best road victory since beating Seton Hall in November.

Michigan State has now stopped the bleeding at the perfect time since they are staring at a showdown with Maryland at the Breslin Center on Saturday. The Terrapins have been the Big Ten’s most consistent team so far this season but the Spartans have dropped only one game on their home floor in conference play.

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