Mich. State rips Wisconsin, stays in Big Ten title hunt
Keith Appling scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half to help No. 10 Michigan State pull away to beat No. 22 Wisconsin 5843 on Thursday night and stay in the Big Ten race.
The host Spartans (23-7, 12-5) moved into a threeway tie for second with Michigan and Ohio State. The trio trails conferenceleading Indiana with one game left in the regular season.
The Hoosiers can claim the Big Ten title outright with a win Sunday in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines. If they lose, Michigan would earn piece of the title and give Michigan State and the Buckeyes a shot to pull into a four-way tie. The Spartans close the regular season Sunday at home against Northwestern after Ohio State hosts Illinois.
The Badgers (20-10, 11-6) fell to fifth place with the decisive road loss after Purdue handed them their most lopsided setback at home in more than seven years.
Michigan State broke open a close slugfest with a 16-0 run early in the second half, taking a 21point lead on Appling’s three-point play.
Colorado 76, No. 19 Oregon 53: Xavier Johnson had a career-high 22 points to help the host Buffaloes (20-9, 10-7) beat the Ducks (23-7, 12-5), completing a season sweep and thwarting Oregon’s bid to gain a share of the Pac-12 Conference title. Women’s Roundup No. 17 South Carolina 77, Alabama 35: Elem Ibiam scored 19 points, Ashley Bruner pulled down 14 rebounds and the Gamecocks (24-6) easily defeated the Crimson Tide (13-18) in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Duluth, Ga.
No. 20 Green Bay 63, Loyola of Chicago 37: Megan Lukan scored 19 points, Adrian Ritchie had 17 and the host Phoenix (24-2, 14-0 Horizon) won their 20th straight game by defeating the Ramblers (14-14, 9-6).
No. 22 LSU 65, Auburn 62: Theresa Plaisance had 15 points and 14 rebounds and LSU (20-10) beat Auburn (16-14) in the SEC tournament for its seventh straight win.