Michigan St. clinches Big Ten
No. 2 Michigan State arrived at Wisconsin feeling a little discombobulated with so many off-the-court issues swirling around the program.
The Spartans are returning to East Lansing with the outright Big Ten regularseason title and more clarity about the future of star forward Miles Bridges.
Cassius Winston scored 20 points and went six for six from the three-point line, and Bridges hit two late foul shots to hold off the Badgers for a 68-63 win on Sunday.
The Spartans (28-3, 16-2) celebrated in the locker room after clinching the top seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament in New York.
It appears that Bridges’ short-term future is more secure after he was cleared by the NCAA following a Yahoo! Sports article on Friday that identified him as one of many players who may have received improper benefits.
“I didn’t get anything, that’s the truth,” Bridges said.
at No. 9 Purdue 84, Minnesota 60: Dakota Mathias matched his career high with 25 points and led Purdue to a blowout win. Carsen Edwards had 18 points for the Boilermakers (26-5, 15-3 Big Ten).
at No. 11 Cincinnati 82, Tulsa 74: Gary Clark led a 24-4 run that put Cincinnati (25-4, 14-2) ahead to stay early in the second half, and the Bearcats held on to preserve their one-game American Athletic lead.
at No. 20 Nevada 92, Colorado State 83: Caleb Martin scored 25 points, Jordan Caroline had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Nevada clinched the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West tournament and at least a share of the regular-season championship.
at No. 23 Houston 109, East Carolina 58: Houston (22-6, 12-4 AAC) shot 67% from the field and built a 6213 first-half lead for the most points scored in a half by the Cougars since scoring 62 in the second half against Florida Tech on Nov. 22, 2005.
at North Carolina State 92, No. 25 Florida State 72: Allerik Freeman scored 25 points to lift North Carolina State. N.C. State (20-9, 10-6) won its fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season game in the same season for the first time since 2006.