Michigan State University
17-8,9-5Big Ten
Illinois
16-8,8-5Big Ten
Tillman's Late Dunk Lifts Michigan State Past No. 22 Illinois
2/11/2020 11:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Michigan State junior forward Xavier Tillman scored a putback dunk off a missed layup from senior guard Cassius Winston with 6.6 seconds left to lift the Spartans over No. 22 Illinois, 70-69, in a Big Ten men's basketball game inside State Farm Arena late Tuesday evening.
Freshman Guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./ SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) led four Spartans in double figures with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) added 17 points, 12 rebounds and three assists and sophomore Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) finished with 13 points and three rebounds.
Records
Michigan State snapped a three-game losing skid to improve to 17-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten Conference, while Illinois dropped its third-straight game and is 16-8 overall and 8-5 in league play.
Summary
- The Spartans led by 17 points, 37-20, at halftime and led by as many as 20 points before Illinois raced back, using a 24-4 run over 5:53 to take a 61-60 lead on a layup from Ayo Dosunmu with 5:27 to play.
- From there, it was back and forth, with seven lead changes in the final 4:16.
- Free throws from Winston (1:59) and a basket from Tillman (1:32) gave MSU a 68-65 lead, but Illinois followed back with free throws from Andres Feliz (69 seconds) and Kofi Cockburn (19 seconds) to take a 69-68 lead.
- Michigan State used its last timeout and with 6.6 seconds left, Tillman grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot from Winston and slammed it home to give MSU the lead and Donsunmu turned the ball over with three seconds left.
- MSU led by 17 at the break, 37-20, and a 3-pointer from Henry to open the half gave the Spartans their biggest lead, 40-20, just 15 seconds in.
- Illinois cut the MSU lead to 50-39 on a 3-pointer from Da'Monte Williams, but the Spartans scored six-straight points and took a 56-39 lead on a jumper from Henry with 12:14 to play.
- The Fighting Illini responded with its 22-4 run, setting up the dramatic finish.
- The Spartans jumped out to a 37-20 lead at the break, thanks in part to Watts, who scored 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 6-of-9 shots from the floor.
- Unlike other road games when MSU struggled out of the gate, the Spartans jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead after 3-pointers from Henry and Winston and a basket from Watts forcing the Illini to call a timeout.
- A layup from Watts extended the MSU lead to 30-14 with 6:06 to play, capping a 9-1 run during which the freshman scored eight points.
- Michigan State held Illinois to 25.8 percent shooting from the field and 18.2 percent from the 3-point line in the first half.
- The Spartans shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the floor and hit five of 10 3-pointers in the first half.
- MSU held the Fighting Illini to 36.7 shooting from the floor for the game (22-of-60) and 27.8 percent from the beyond the arc.
- Michigan State connected on just 7-of-14 free throws, while Illinois went 20-of-25 from the charity stripe.
Notes
• Michigan State ended a three-game losing streak, while Illinois dropped its third game in a row.
• The Spartans lead the all-time series, 63-60, and have won 14 of the last 21 against Illinois.
• MSU's win at Illinois marks the first in Champaign since a 60-53 win on Feb. 22, 2015.
• Tom Izzo is 26-18 in his career against the Illini.
• Michigan State's 17 point lead at halftime was its largest lead this season in conference play.
• The Spartans held a Big Ten opponent to 20 points or less at halftime for the second time this season (last vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 17).
• Michigan State is 15-2 when scoring 70 or more points.
• The Spartans are 13-3 when holding their opponent under 70 points.
• Watts scored a game-high 21 points, his seventh game this season in doubles figures and first career 20 point game.
• Watts has led Michigan State in scoring two times.
• Tillman scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of this season and the 15th of his career.
• Tillman finished with three assists and has led the team in assists in seven games this season and eight for his career.
• He has scored in double figures 17 times this season and 37 in his career.
• This was his 16th game with at least 10 rebounds and has led the team in rebounding in 23 games this season and 34 for his career.
• Henry scored in double figures for the second-straight game and 12th time this season and 16th in his career.
• Winston has scored at least 10 points in 21 games this season and 94 for his career.
• He now has 1,851 career points and needs one point to pass Sam Vincent (1981-1985) for seventh place
Up Next
Michigan State returns home for the first time in over a week this Saturday, Feb. 15, hosting No. 9 Maryland for College Gameday. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
