No. 24 Illinois barely holds off rally from No. 10 Michigan State to win, 56-55
The No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini didn't score a point in the final five minutes and 33 seconds of a game against the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans, but still managed to hang on for a 56-55 win Tuesday night.
Illinois led by as many as 15 points and had an eight-point lead when the offense went ice cold with just over five minutes left. But Michigan State struggled to find points of its own to take back the lead in the final minutes. When Illinois fouled Malik Hall with less than a second left, he missed the first of two free throws to seal the Spartans' fate.
Illinois lost back-to-back games against Purdue and Maryland just ahead of its Tuesday win over Michigan State. While four Big Ten teams -- Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State -- are ahead of the Fighting Illini in the latest AP Poll, Illinois currently leads the conference standings at 7-2.
Trent Frazier led Illinois in scoring in the win with 16 points while Alfonso Plummer added 11 points. Michigan State fell to 6-2 in Big Ten play with the loss.
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