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Illinois Battles No. 7 Michigan State For Big Ten Lead
East Lansing, MI (Sports Network) - Kalin Lucas dropped in 20 points to lead No. 7 Michigan State to a 73-63 victory over Illinois in a battle of early Big Ten contenders.
Delvon Roe scored 15 points and Raymar Morgan donated 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Spartans (15-3, 5-0 Big Ten) remained perfect in conference play and at home.
Demetri McCamey logged 15 points and five assists for the Fighting Illini (12-6, 4-1), who had their three-game winning streak snapped thanks to a 34.9 percent shooting effort. Tyler Griffey ended with 12 points and seven rebounds in defeat.
The Illini got out to decent start and were on top, 19-13, following Griffey’s jumper at the midway point of the first half.
MSU was down 24-18 four minutes later before Korie Lucious’ three-pointer sparked an 11-0 run. Lucious hit another three to end the half’s scoring with the Spartans holding a 36-29 lead.
Each team had a mini-run in the first five minutes of the second half, but Lucas single-handedly broke the game open by scoring nine points on an 11-0 spurt, with his three-point play yielding a 54-35 cushion 7 1/2 minutes in.
The visitors had one last run in them, scoring 11 of 13 points to pull within 68-57 on Griffey’s three-pointer from the corner with under three minutes to play.
Lucas stopped the comeback with a layup, and the Spartans held on for their sixth straight victory.
Michigan State is 11-0 at Breslin Center this season...The Spartans have won five straight over the Illini and now lead the all-time series, 54-53...MSU shot 43.9 percent from the floor and hit 21-of-26 from the foul line, compared to Illinois’ 13-of-16 effort from the stripe...Mike Davis chipped in 11 points for Illinois.
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