Tuesday, February 23
East Lansing, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
12-9,6-9Big Ten
81
vs
72
Illinois
16-6,12-4Big Ten
1
2
F
Illinois
26
46
72
Michigan St.
36
45
81
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Four in Double Figures as Michigan State Tops No. 5 Illinois, 81-72
2/23/2021 10:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Ind. – Michigan State opened up a 10-point lead at halftime, extended its lead to 19 points midway through the second half and beat No. 5 Illinois, 81-72, at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists and two blocks and two steals to lead the Spartans, while graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]); finished with 13 points and five assists and redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) chipped in 13 points, three rebounds.
Records
Michigan State, winners of two-straight games and four of the last six overall, improves to 12-9 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten, while Illinois falls to 16-6 overall and 12-4 in league play.
Recap
Michigan State has a quick turnaround, hosting No. 4 Ohio State on Thursday, Feb. 25. Tipoff on ESPN at the Breslin Center is slated for 9 p.m.
Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists and two blocks and two steals to lead the Spartans, while graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]); finished with 13 points and five assists and redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) chipped in 13 points, three rebounds.
Records
Michigan State, winners of two-straight games and four of the last six overall, improves to 12-9 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten, while Illinois falls to 16-6 overall and 12-4 in league play.
Recap
- Michigan State led by 10 points, 36-26, at halftime and used a 13-5 run over the first 5:59 of the second half to take a 49-31 lead on a jumper from Henry at the 14:01 mark.
- The Spartans took their biggest lead of the game, 19 points, 56-37, on a jumper from sophomore forward Julius Marble (Dallas, Texas/Dallas Jesuit) with 11:15 to play.
- As foul trouble mounted, with three players – Marble, junior forward Marcus Bingham (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian); and junior forward Thomas Kithier (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) – fouling out, Illinois pulled to within nine points on two occasions, the last on a layup from Trent Frazier with 3:18 to play, making it 68-59.
- Hauser followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 71-59 and the Spartans hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final minutes with a dunk from junior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville); sealing the win.
- The Spartans went into the half leading by 10 points, 36-26, with Langford scoring seven points and tying his career-high with 10 rebounds
- The Illini had scored the first five points of the game, but MSU scored the next 10 points and took a 10-5 lead on a jumper from Hauser.
- The Spartans led the rest of the way and took the 10-point lead at the break after a free throw from Hauser with 29 seconds left.
- Michigan State shot 54.2 percent from the floor (32-of-59), including 55.2 percent in the second half (16-of-29).
- The Spartans committed just eight turnovers, including three in the second half.
- After hitting just 25.0 percent of their free throws in the first half (1-of-4), MSU connected on 75.0 percent in the second half (12-of-16).
- MSU out-scored Illinois, 38-34, in the paint.
- Led by Joey Hauser's 13 points, the Spartans had 22 points from its bench.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Illinois, 64-60, including a 40-20 advantage at home and an 18-7 edge in games played at the Breslin Center
- The Spartans have won the last three games in the series and five of the last six overall.
- The Spartans connected on 54.2 percent of their field goals, the fifth time this season the team has hit at least half of its shots from the field
- MSU committed just eight turnovers, the fifth time this season with less than 10.
- The Spartans received 22 points from its bench, the 14th time this season with at least 20 points from the bench.
- Aaron Henry scored 20 points, his 19th game in double figures this year and the 39th of his career.
- Henry has scored at least 20 points six times this season and three times in the last five games.
- Joshua Langford scored 15 points, his 11th game in double figures this year and the 46th of his career. He has scored in double figures in nine of the last games
- Langford set a career-high with 16 rebounds, the most this season for an MSU player since Joey Hauser had 16 against Notre Dame
- Rocket Watts scored 13 points, his sixth game in double figures and the 17th of his career
- Joey Hauser scored 13 points, his 12th game in double figures and the third in the last five games
Michigan State has a quick turnaround, hosting No. 4 Ohio State on Thursday, Feb. 25. Tipoff on ESPN at the Breslin Center is slated for 9 p.m.
Team Stats
Illini
MSU
FG%
.400
.542
3FG%
.294
.500
FT%
.559
.650
RB
40
35
TO
11
8
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
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