Walker Scores 26 but Comeback Falls Short as No. 19 Spartans Lose to No. 12 Illinois, 79-74

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State trailed by as many as 16 points midway through the second and used a late run to pull within two points in the closing minutes, but MSU could not get closer as the 19th-ranked Spartans lost to No. 12 Illinois, 79-74, at the Breslin Center on Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Tyson Walker scored 26 points, including 24 in the second half, and had five assists to lead the Spartans, while sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard had 15 points and eight assists, redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists and junior forward Julius Marble had eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Records
Michigan State falls to 18-8 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten, while Illinois improves to 19-7 overall and 12-4 in league play.

Recap

Trailing by 13 points, 67-54, after a free throw from Illinois' Kofi Cockburn with 5:28 left, Walker took over for the rest of the game.
The junior guard hit a 3-pointer with 5:06 to play to cut the lead to 67-57 and would score 16 points in a span of just over four minutes as MSU made it a one-possession game in the final two minutes.
Walker's jumper with 3:14 to play made it 67-64 and a 3-pointer from the junior cut the lead to 69-67 with 2:28 left.
A pull-up jumper from Hoggard with 1:49 left again made it two points, 71-69, but a layup from Trent Frazier with 58 seconds left gave the Illini a 76-71 lead.
Walker hit a layup and a free throw after being fouled with 47 seconds left to make it 76-74, but Frazier hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to seal the win for Illinois.
Michigan State trailed by 12 points, 34-22, at the break, and saw its deficit extend to 16 points, 40-24, in the opening minutes before a 7-0 run pulled the Spartans to within 40-31 on a 3-pointer from senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. at the 17:04 mark.
MSU had the lead down to eight points twice, first on a jumper from Walker (47-39) with 12:40 to play and then on free throws from Hauser (49-41) with 12:06 left.
MSU struggled from the field in the first half, hitting just three of 18 field goals in the opening 13 minutes, and went into the break with a 34-22 deficit.
The Spartans trailed by just two, 10-8, after a layup from Hoggard at the 13:22 mark, but Illinois went on a 9-0 run and took a 19-8 lead on a dunk from Cockburn with 9:47 left.
MSU went more than six minutes without a field goal, ending the skid when Hoggard converted a layup with 6:59 left.

Key Stats

After shooting just 31.0 percent from the floor in the first half, Michigan State connected on 60.6 percent of its second-half shots (20-of-33), including 46.2 percent from 3-point land (6-of-13).
Illinois had a 38-36 edge in rebounding, collecting 14 offensive rebounds and scoring 19 second-chance points.
The Spartans received 34 points from its bench, aided largely by Walker's 26 points.
Illinois connected on 73.9 percent of its free throws (17-of-23), while MSU hit 66.7 percent (8-of-12).

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Illinois, 64-62, but the Illini won both meetings this season.
The teams have split the last six meetings.
It was the eighth time in the last 16 meetings that the game was decided by five points or fewer.
The Spartans had won the previous four meetings at home against the Illini … this was the first win at the Breslin Center for Illinois since a 59-54 win on Feb. 7, 2015.
Head Coach Tom Izzo is 27-20 all-time against Illinois.
Izzo's career record is now 661-262.
The 52 second-half points were the most points in a half against a Big Ten team this season.
MSU shot 60.6 percent (20-33) in the second half, the first time shooting at least 60 percent in a half since the final 20 minutes of a win over High Point on Dec. 29.
Tyson Walker's 26 points were a Michigan State career high and a Big Ten career high.
Walker's 26 points were the most scored in a game by an MSU player this season.
Walker scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half, marking the first time an MSU player scored at least 20 points in a half since Kenny Goins scored 21 in the first half against Nebraska on March 5, 2019.
Walker has scored in double figures nine times this year and 43 times in his career.
This was his first game at MSU with at least 20 points and the 11th of his career.
A.J. Hoggard scored 15 points and had eight assists. He has scored in double figures eight times this year and nine times in his career.
This was the 14th time this season Hoggard has led MSU in assists.
Joey Hauser scored 11 points, his seventh game in double figures this year and the 21st of his career.
Julius Marble scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds, a Big Ten and career-high for the junior.

Up Next
Michigan State hits the road for a game at Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 22 (7 p.m., ESPN).

Walker Scores 26 but Comeback Falls Short as No. 19 Spartans Lose to No. 12 Illinois, 79-74

Next Event

Team Stats

Tyson Walker

A.J. Hoggard

Joey Hauser

Julius Marble II

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Kenny Goins

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Kenny Goins

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

Walker Scores 26 but Comeback Falls Short as No. 19 Spartans Lose to No. 12 Illinois, 79-74

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Tyson Walker

A.J. Hoggard

Joey Hauser

Julius Marble II

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Kenny Goins

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Kenny Goins

Joey Hauser

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

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