The Illini slowed the Spartans' fastbreak, but they also had their own best player brought to a screeching halt early

The Spartans' win over Illinois bought breathing room against one of the Big Ten's most dangerous title contenders.

Columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on MSU's performance in an 80-78 win over Illinois on Sunday afternoon with three quick takes.

Stopping freshman phenom Kasparas Jakučionis is the biggest mission for No. 12 Michigan State basketball against No. 20 Illinois on Sunday.

While MSU’s win over Illinois was huge, Purdue’s win over Oregon was even more impressive, as the Boilermakers took down the Ducks on the road. Without a loss to the scrappy Penn State Nittany Lions, that win would have put them in the No. 1 spot.

Everything you need to know in order to watch the Michigan State Spartans take on the Illinois Illini on Sunday, Jan. 19.

MSU, which is ranked No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is coming off a 90-85 victory over Penn State on Jan. 15 in East Lansing. Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) is ranked No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and is coming off a 94-69 win over Indiana in its most recent game on Jan. 11.

The Spartans' 7-0 start in Big Ten play is their best since the 2018-19 season when they last played in the Final Four.

After going down early, Michigan State basketball survived a nail-biter vs. Illinois to stay undefeated and alone at the top if the Big Ten.

Illinois’ Big Ten title hopes just suffered a major blow at the hands of Michigan State. After beating up on rival Indiana earlier in the week, Illinois was not able to stay hot against the conference-leading Spartans,