The Michigan State Spartans outlasted the Illinois Fighting Illini 80-78 Sunday afternoon in East Lansing. The matchup of ranked Big Ten foes was tough throughout and came down to the final minute when Tom Izzo’s team prevailed over Brad Underwood’s. Foul trouble marred the game for Illinois. Relentless attacking of the rim for Michigan State helped keep them undefeated in conference play and atop the Big Ten standings.
Kasparas Jakucionis was limited to just nine minutes of play due to foul trouble. Another top freshman talent Will Riley had four fouls. The drivers of the offense were out of action for some of the most important sequences of the game. Between their absences, a late technical foul, and a frantic final sequence, Illinois dropped their third Big Ten game and is now in danger of falling out of the top 25.
Spartans Continue Winning Streak With Illinois Win
The Michigan State Spartans won their 11th straight game Sunday afternoon when they took down the Illinois Fighting Illini 80-78 at the Breslin Center. The battle of ranked Big Ten teams was a constant struggle throughout. Illinois got out to an early lead before Jakucionis was sent to the bench with two fouls in the first three minutes of play. Foul trouble was the story of the day for Brad Underwood’s Illinois squad. Will Riley, another talented freshman, came into the game and at one point had as many points as the entire Michigan State team before he too committed two fouls in the first half.
Michigan State was crafty and aggressive with their offensive strategy to get those guards in foul trouble. The Spartans attacked the basket and used leverage inside the three-point arc to create favorable matchups and displace Illinois defenders out of position. Izzo’s team shot just ten three-pointers in the game. Tre Holloman led the scoring effort for Michigan State with 17 and a pair of Spartans came off the bench with double figures. Frankie Fidler and Coen Carr each had 11.
Illinois had to change their offensive game plan with Jakacionis unavailable. For the first ten minutes of the game, Riley did most of the damage for the Fighting Illini. Riley matched the entire Michigan State team with 16 points. As they did to Jakucionis, Michigan State got Riley into foul trouble and for the rest of the half, and the game, the Illinois backcourt was depleted. Trailing by nine with nine minutes to go in the half, the Spartans took advantage and chipped away to even up the game for a 36-36 halftime score.
Big Ten Matchup Comes Down to the End
Michigan State took their first lead of the game right out of the locker room. The game became increasingly more physical in the second half and the big men played crucial roles in the half court game. Contesting tough shots in the paint was the biggest part of defensive success for both teams. Without Jakucionis and Riley threatening from distance, Kylan Boswell took over the Illinois offense and he was determined to get to the basket against the smaller Spartan defenders. Boswell couldn’t rely on his distance shooting. He missed all four of his three-point attempts.
The game went back and forth for the first ten minutes of the second half. Michigan State took a five-point lead and from that point on each possession became a wrestling match. One of the biggest events of the game happened down the stretch when the teams weren’t even on the floor. At the under-four TV timeout with the score at 74-70 Spartans, one of the assistant coaches on the Illinois staff was assessed a technical foul. Frankie Fidler knocked down both free throws and Michigan State added two huge points that would end up making the difference in the game.
In the final minutes, the Spartans offense stalled as they ran the shot clock down close to zero on the rest of their possessions. For the Fighting Illini, Boswell made decisive moves with the basketball and Illinois found quality shots at the basket to draw the game within one point at 78-77 with a minute to go. After a couple of Michigan State misses, Illinois secured the rebound and had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Brad Underwood opted to not call a timeout and the ball was in Boswell’s hands.
The Champaign native used a high-ball screen to drive to the hoop and left his feet in the paint swarmed by Spartan defenders. Boswell looked for Tomislav Ivisic on the right side of the basket but the ball went past him and out of bounds with six seconds left and the Fighting Illini’s best chance to take the lead went by the wayside. Tre Holloman was fouled on the inbound and made a pair of free throws.
Michigan State decided to foul Illinois to keep them from shooting a three. After making his first free throw to cut the deficit to two, Kylan Boswell recovered his intentional miss, but shot the ball from behind the backboard, giving the ball to Michigan State with under a second to go. The Spartans won 80-78.
Final Thoughts
The win keeps Michigan State at the top of the Big Ten standings and as the season unfolds, the Spartans continue to impress. Always scheduling a vicious non-conference schedule, Tom Izzo’s squad and their 16-2 record is impressive. The unavailability of Jakucionis for most of the game was a huge factor in why this game was so tight. Early on, Illinois was clearly the better team but the savviness of Michigan State to bait the Fighting Illini’s freshmen into fouls was a genius strategy and paved the way for their 11th straight win.
Illinois will be okay in the long run and each game provides a learning experience for Brad Underwood to use on his team. As Clark Kellogg said on the CBS broadcast, this team’s ceiling keeps getting raised and even if they fall out of the top 25 this week, they won’t be out for long. With a weaker portion of their schedule coming up, Illinois needs to take the lessons they’re learning from these tough games and stack some wins in the coming weeks. Their next game is Thursday night at home against (14-5, 4-4) Maryland.
