After three straight losses to Big Ten rivals, Michigan State Basketball was able to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2007 with a 70-69 win over Illinois. This was a huge road win for a Michigan State program that was in desperate need of some positive momentum.
Your leading scorer for the Spartans? It was obviously their tantalizing, uber-talented guard: Rocket Watts. Yep, Rocket Watts led the way tonight with 21 points and was a huge reason the Spartans led for most of this game.
Michigan State led by as much as 20 points in their game against Illinois, but to their credit, the Fighting Illinois, well, fought back. With 5 minutes and 28 seconds left in the game, the Illinois Basketball team took their first lead in the game.
With 19 seconds left, Kofi Cockburn went to the line and knocked down both free throws to put Illinois up 69-68. Naturally, Michigan State went to their leader Cassius Winston. Cassius broke to the rim, drew the defense, and put up an errant layup that Xavier Tillman was able to slam home to put Michigan State up by one.
Ayo Dosunmu, who had 17 points, 1 assist, and 9 rebounds, took the ball down for Illinois but lost his balance and slipped. Aaron Henry picked up the ball and chucked it down the court, sealing the game.
Cassius Winston had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in what was a statistically tame night for him. Xavier Tillman had 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 3 assists. Aaron Henry, to his credit, added 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 much-appreciated three-pointers.
In the latest edition of “FORWARD WATCH”, Marcus Bingham Jr. got the start instead of Gabe Brown or Malik Hall, but Brown ended up playing 11 more minutes than Bingham.
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