Spartans end three-year drought with win
As Rich McBride sunk a pair of free throws for Illinois to cut the MSU lead to a single point with two minutes remaining, thoughts on the minds of Spartan fans were unanimously, “Oh no! Here we go again.” Michigan State had not beaten the Illini since February 2, 2003- a total of five defeats in three years- and were now facing the prospect of blowing a game they had led for the previous 25 minutes.
On the following Spartan possession, Shannon Brown hit a clutch jumper to stretch the advantage back to three points, and Illinois’s fantastic senior guard Dee Brown missed a triple-try. Four free throw makes by Shannon Brown in the final thirty seconds kept the Illini at bay and gave Michigan State a 61-56 win in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
In just 27 minutes, senior forward Paul Davis tallied 16 points and 8 rebounds for MSU, including several tough buckets that stifled a second half Illinois rally. Despite Davis’s numbers, the player of the game may have been Goran Suton, who followed up a career night against Purdue with an exceptional performance as Davis sat on the bench through much of the first half with two fouls. Suton finished the game with 6 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.
Aside from getting buckets when it mattered, the Spartan defense against Dee Brown may have been even better. Brown, who recored 54 points in two regular season contests with Michigan State, was held to just 5 on 2-for-10 shooting from the field. Credit MSU’s Travis Walton and Drew Neitzel, who kept Brown occupied all game and forced other Illini players to beat them. Although they came close, Dee was unable to beat Tom Izzo’s defense.
Michigan State advances to the Big Ten Tournament Semi-finals, and will play the Iowa Hawkeyes at 1:40 PM on Saturday. The winner of that game will face either Ohio State or Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament Championship.