Spartans overcome deficit on the road
NO. 16 MICHIGAN STATE 79, NO. 20 PENN STATE 71
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Xavier Tillman scored 23 points and had 15 rebounds to lead No. 16 Michigan State over No. 20 Penn State 79-71 on Tuesday night.
Rocket Watts added 18 points, Cassius Winston had 14 and Aaron Henry scored 12 for the Spartans, who erased a 46-31 halftime deficit to win their fourth consecutive.
Myreon Jones led Penn State with 16 points while Lamar Stevens had 15 and Mike Watkins had 12.
The Spartans (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten) trailed by 19 with 4:15 left in the first half, but scored the first nine points to start the second.
It sparked a dominant stretch of play in the lane for the Spartans, who took their first lead of the game with 14:29 to play when Tillman dunked to make it 51-49.
Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions, who made 10 of 17 three-pointers in the first half, went 0-for-10 from long distance to start the second.
The Spartans continued to keep Penn State (21-9, 11-8) at bay from there and used a 14-6 run to take their biggest lead of the night, 65-55, with 9:41 left. John Harrar made backto-back layups to pull Penn State within two with 4:56 to play, but the Nittany Lions wouldn’t get any closer.
The Nittany Lions used a pair of first-half runs to take control early.
They opened with a 10-2 advantage that featured two alley-oop dunks from Watkins and a pair of threes from Jamari Wheeler and Seth Lundy.
Michigan State cut it to 1211, but Penn State made seven three-pointers over the next 7:47 as part of a 29-11 run that made it 41-22 with 4:15 left.
The Spartans scored the next eight points before Jones added his fourth three-pointer of the half and Watkins jammed in his third alley-oop dunk of the half to make it 4631 at halftime.
In other games involving AP Top 25 teams, Jacob Young came off the bench and scored 17 points and Rutgers bolstered its NCAA Tournament hopes with a 78-67 victory over No. 9 Maryland in Piscataway, N.J. Montez Mathis added 15 points and Gio Baker had 11 as the Scarlet Knights (19-11, 10-9 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak. Jalen Smith had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Maryland (23-7, 13-6), which has dropped three of its last four. … Eric Hunter Jr., scored a career-high 19 points, and Evan Boudreaux had 14 points and 14 rebounds to help Purdue (16-14, 9-10 Big Ten) beat No. 18 Iowa (20-10, 11-8) 77-68 in Iowa City.
In games involving SEC teams, John Fulkerson scored a career-high 27 points, and Yves Pons made several key jumpers down the stretch as Tennessee rallied from a 17-point deficit to upset No. 6 Kentucky 81-73 in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats (24-6, 14-3 SEC) appeared in control leading 51-34 early in the second half before the Volunteers (17-13, 9-8) outscored them 29-9 over 10:09 to lead 63-60. Kentucky tied it at 63, but Pons answered with a three-pointer and Fulkerson added two free throws to stay ahead. …South Carolina forward Maik Kotsar scored 20 points on his senior night and pushed the Gamecocks to an 83-71 victory over Mississippi State (19-11, 10-7) in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks (18-12, 10-7) clinched their fourth winning conference season in five years and breathed life into their flagging NCAA Tournament hopes, which nearly flatlined after Saturday’s loss at Alabama. … Saben Lee scored a career-high 38 points, including 15 over the final five-plus minutes, to lead Vanderbilt (10-20, 2-15) to an 87-79 upset of Alabama (16-14, 8-9) in Tuscaloosa, Ala.