No. 11 Michigan State beats Illinois 79-65; Izzo passes Knight in Big Ten coaching victories

By Canadian Press on February 15, 2025.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jaxson Kohler had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Tre Holloman scored 14 points and No. 11 Michigan State rallied to beat Illinois 79-65 on Saturday night giving the Spartans’ Tom Izzo the most conference wins in Big Ten history.

Izzo moved past late Indiana coach Bobby Knight with his record 354th conference victory.

Jase Richardson contributed 11 points and Coen Carr had 10 for the Spartans (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten), who outscored Illinois 42-24 in the second half. They finished with a 15-point run as the Illini missed their last 18 shots over the final 8 1/2 minutes.

Morez Johnson Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis each scored 17 points for Illinois (19-7, 9-7).

Takeaways

Michigan State: Three-point shooting has been a problem for the Spartans all season. They were 14 of 60 for 23% from distance in three recent losses. They hardly bothered shooting 3s against Illinois, going 5 of 12, and won the game by taking the ball inside, scoring 40 points in the paint.

Illinois: The Illini will close the regular season by playing five ranked teams — including Michigan State again — in their last six games. They’ll need to play two good halves to survive the stretch.

Key moment

Illinois led the entire first half and by as many as 16 points. The Spartans made it a game with a 13-point run, setting the stage for their domination in the second half.

Key stat

Michigan State and Illinois each came into the game having outrebounded opponents 21 times and Illinois is the nation’s top rebounding team. But the Spartans outrebounded the Illini 41-36.

Up next

Michigan State will host No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday night while Illinois will play at No. 16 Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

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Steve Stein, The Associated Press

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