No. 10 Michigan State wins it 85-82 in overtime over No. 5 Illinois

No. 10 Michigan State entered Saturday's home matchup against No. 5 Illinois on a two-game losing streak and shorthanded with Divine Ugochukwu out for the season after the loss at Minnesota earlier in the week. As if on schedule having entered its post-mid conference slump like clockwork, Tom Izzo's team delivered a big upset most were skeptical of as MSU forces overtime and sends the Illini packing with an 85-82 victory for MSU.

The win improves the Spartans to 10-3 in Big Ten play and 20-4 overall. The Illini drop to 11-2 in conference play and 20-4 overall.

Jeremy Fears Jr., not benched to start the game in the end after Izzo decided he had a meaningful talk with his point guard, led all scorers on the night with 26 points. Fears finished 12-for-13 from the free throw line and 7-for-16 from 2-point range while notching a double-double thanks to 15 assists. Jaxon Kohler also finished with another double-double on the season, scoring 11 and grabbing 16 rebounds alongside one assist, one block, and one steal.

Jordan Scott and Kur Teng also finished with 10 points apiece for Spartans in double figures scoring. Carson Cooper finished just shy with nine points and tied with Coen Carr on the boards for second-most behind Kohler with eight each. Carr finished with eight points while each had one block.

David Mirkovic led four Illini in double figures with 18 points. Andrej Stojakovic scored 17, Keaton Wagler added 16, and Tomisla Ivisic added 12.

First Half

Both teams were off to a slow start on offense, quickly establishing it would be a physical game. Scott had to leave the game early to deal with a cut above his eye. MSU scored first, but it was the Illini with a narrow 7-6 lead by the first media break with 14:52 on the clock.

The slow scoring continued through the next stretch with MSU holding the narrow 15-14 advantage with 11:35 left in the half. Ward posted a highlight dunk that had the crowd rocking shortly before the break.

The Illini finally started to break out with a 7-0 run that gave them a 25-19 edge with 7:49 left in the half. Soon after, Fears yet again had fans groaning in frustration as a review by the officials tried to determine if he was intentionally tripping an opponent yet again. The review came after Illinois head coach Brad Underwood called for one, but no penalty was assessed and it cost the Illini a timeout.

Just a few moments later, Fears responded with a pass to Carr for a reverse alley-oop that had everyone impressed.

Despite the fun dunks, it was MSU trailing at the half for a fourth-straight game at home as the teams headed into the locker room. Kohler led MSU in scoring with eight points, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range, while Fears had eight assists.

Second Half

Illinois established the largest lead of the game by either team coming out of the locker room, jumping out to a nine-point lead less than a minute into play. MSU quickly responded and it was 47-43 by the first media break with 15:18 to go. Just over a minute of game time later, the Spartans tied it up before an alley-oop by Carr gave them a narrow lead.

MSU couldn't keep a rhythm going on offense to press its advantage, though. The Illini used their offensive talent to push the best defense to its limits, opening a five-point advantage three times after Carr's dunk. While the Spartans were able to tie it up on a dunk by Scott with 9:03 remaining, they couldn't find the baskets to open a meaningful lead of their own.

With the game going down to the wire, MSU relied on its rebounding prowess, having finished the game with an even 15-15 battle on the offensive glass though Illinois won the advantage in second chance points on the night 14-12, the Spartans final full offensive series in regulation ended with Kohler grabbing the rebound from a missed Teng trey and finally kicking it back out to Teng for the redo and the lead.

The Illini used a pair of free throws by Jake Davis to even it up at 71 while Cooper was unable to score on a last second attempt to avoid overtime.

Overtime

The Spartans appeared ready to march right over the Illini as overtime started. A quick three-point lead for MSU seemed like it might establish the momentum, but poor officiating resulted in a no call on two straight illegal screens by Jake Davis against Scott and the Spartans started to lose their momentum on defense as Illinois scored on back-to-back possessions to take a 76-74 advantage with 2:42 remaining.

Just like that, MSU responded with its own 9-1 advantage as both Tomisla Ivisic for Illinois and Cam Ward for MSU fouled out. Ward's final foul of the game resulted in two free throw attempts for Mirkovic, who hit both to bring the Illini within four with 11 seconds left. Fears drew the foul on the offensive end for MSU by Brandon Lee and hit both to give the Spartans a six-point edge with just 10 seconds remaining.

Not to let MSU fans off easy during American Heart Month, Wagler hit a trey with six seconds left to make it a one-score game for Illinois. A bad pass attempt to Carr resulted in a turnover for MSU on offense, but Zvonimir Ivisic missed the 3-point attempt with just three seconds left and Carr grabbed the rebound to ensure a win for the Spartans.

MSU is off for the week before heading to Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 13. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX. The Badgers will visit Champaign to take on Illinois on Tuesday prior to hosting the Spartans.