1/17- Illini Fall To No. 7 Michigan State
Updated: January 17, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. -Kalin Lucas scored all 10 of his points in the second half and Raymar Morgan made the go-ahead free throws with 4:49 left, lifting No. 7 Michigan State over Illinois 63-57 on Saturday, the Spartans 11th straight win and 28th in a row at home.
Michigan State (15-2, 5-0 Big Ten) hasnt lost at the Breslin Center since Feb. 3, 2007.
Alex Legion scored a season-high 15 points for the Fighting Illini (15-3, 3-2).
Illinois led by seven points at halftime and was in control until Lucas and Morgan led a late run.
Lucas made a shot and Morgan connected on two free throws to start a 9-0 run that put the Spartans ahead by five with just under 4 minutes left.
The Spartans stayed atop the Big Ten, extending their best start in the conference since 1977-78 when Magic Johnson was a freshman.
Illinois, whose only loss in their previous 10 games was at Michigan early this month, had a chance to move into a first-place tie with Michigan State and Minnesota.
The Illini blanked Lucas in the first half, shutting down the player who was scoring a Big Ten-best 19 points in conference games and held Morgan scoreless for the first 18 minutes of the game.
Morgan finished with eight points, scoring half of them during the pivotal run of the game, after averaging 15-plus points this season.
Michigan States Goran Suton scored 12 points and Marquise Gray had 11 points and six rebounds, playing with more intensity than any Spartan perhaps because fellow Flint native Morris Peterson had his jersey retired before the game.
Calvin Brock scored 13 points and Mike Davis had 10 for the Illini.
Lucas missed all five shots in a scoreless first half and finished 3-of-13 from the field.
Michigan State shot 41 percent in the first half and had 14 turnovers, leading to a 34-27 deficit.
The Spartans shot even worse in the second half, but they had just four turnovers after halftime and forced 11 of Illinois 18 turnovers.
After the Illini took a 54-51 lead with 6:10 left, they scored just three points.
