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#14 Michigan State 76-56 Over Illinois Official Game Thread

#14 Michigan State 76-56 Over Illinois Official Game Thread

Hondo S. Carpenter Sr.

The #14 Michigan State Spartans return to action tonight as they re-open Big Ten play versus Illinois. The Illini are a very unique match-up for the Spartans. and will poise some match-up issues.

Here is a great look at the game courtesy of Mex Carey, MSU men's basketball SID:

Michigan State has won five-straight games and enters Thursday's game with a 10-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the Big Ten, while Illinois enters with a 9-4 overall record and 1-1 in league play.

Series History

Michigan State and Illinois meet for the 122nd time when the teams meet on Thursday, Jan. 2.

The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 61-60, and have won 12 of the last 19 against Illinois and 14 of the last 22.

The Illini posted a 74-70 win at home in last year's lone meeting.

In the last 24 games in the series, 20 games in the series have been decided by 10 points or fewer.

Tom Izzo is 24-18 in his career against the Illini.

Last Meeting with Illinois

Then-No. 9 Michigan State came back from a 14-point second half deficit to take a three-point lead, but Illinois used a late run en route to a 74-70 win over the Spartans on Feb. 5 at State Farm Center.

Junior guard Cassius Winston scored 21 points and had nine assists to lead the way for MSU, while sophomore forward Xavier Tillman tallied a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds, redshirt junior Kyle Ahrens had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists and junior forward Nick Ward chipped in 11 points.

Notes

Senior guard Cassius Winston leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game … Winston is also fourth in the league in assists, averaging 6.1 per game, and second in free throw percentage, connecting on 86.0 percent of his shots (43-of-50) ... Winston did not play in the game following a bone bruise in his left knee suffered in practice last Friday.

Junior forward Xavier Tillman is second on the team with 13.1 points per game (T16th in the Big Ten) and tops the team, and is fourth in the Big Ten, with 9.9 rebounds per game, while adding 2.7 assists per game.

Sophomore forward Aaron Henry, who scored a season-high 18 points against Virginia Tech and matched a career-best with six assists against Eastern Michigan, is third on the team with 10.6 points per game, while adding 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

MSU has four other players averaging at least 5.0 points per game, led by sophomore forward Gabe Brown, who is averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds and leads the team in free throw percentage, connecting on 96.0 percent of his shots (24-of-25).

Freshman guard Rocket Watts adds 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr., who has started the last eight games and scored 13 points against Duke, is averaging 5.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

Freshman forward Malik Hall, who had nine points and eight rebounds against Duke, is averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds.

About Illinois

Illinois enters tonight's game with a 9-4 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the Big Ten.

The Fighting Illini closed out non-conference play on Sunday with a 95-64 win over North Carolina A&T at home ... Illinois has won three of its last four games, including a 71-62 decision at home against then-No. 5 Michigan ... Illinois opened Big Ten Conference play with a narrow 59-58 loss at then-No. 3 Maryland on Dec. 7 ... The team won six of its first seven games, including a 90-69 win at then-No. 21 Arizona, before dropping games to Miami (81-79) and Maryland.

Freshman center Kofi Cockburn, who has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times this season, leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.0 points and 9.7 boards … He also averages 1.5 blocks per game.

Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu is second on the team with 15.6 points per game, while senior guard Andres Feliz adds 12.2 points and leads the team with 3.4 assists per game.

Other starters include junior guard Trent Frazier, who is scoring 9.5 points and leads the team with 22 3-pointers, and sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili, who is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Illinois is third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (80.5 ppg) and 11th in the league in scoring defense (66.2 ppg).

The game is at the Breslin Center in a return to Big Ten action. That game can be seen on FS1 at 8:00 PM.

Make sure you constantly update this story for the latest from the game and make sure you comment in the comment section with Spartan fans from all over!

7:49 PM ET UPDATES:  Cassius Winston returns to the starting lineup with Aaron Henry, Xavier Tillman, Marcus Bingham Jr (MBJ) and Gabe Brown.

UPDATE:  1st media timeout of the game as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 11-02.  15:59

UPDATE: 2nd media timeout of the game as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 18-10. 10:44 Good start for the men in green.

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UPDATE: 3rd media timeout of the game as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 24-17. 7:43

UPDATE: FINAL media timeout of the game as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 31-24. 3:58 ILL Coach Brad Underwood just got teed UP

HALFTIME #14 MSU leads ILL 35-30.  Stats:

MSU vs ILL half 2020

UPDATE: 1st media timeout of the 2nd half as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 41-35. 15:36

UPDATE: 2nd media timeout of the 2nd half as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 62-43. 10:32  

UPDATE: FINAL media timeout of the 2nd half as #14 Michigan State leads Illinois 74-54. 3:18 

#14 Michigan State 76-56 Over Illinois 

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Hondo S. Carpenter Sr.
HONDO S. CARPENTER SR.

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