Illinois’ Big Ten blues continue
Leron Black scored 16 points and Trent Frazier 11, but Illinois lost its seventh straight Big Ten game, a 75- 50 defeat against host Wisconsin.
Down 24- 18 with 8: 37 left in the first half, Illinois watched the Badgers go on a 16- 6 run over the next five minutes to take control.
The Illini ( 10- 10, 0- 7 Big Ten) outrebounded the Badgers 31- 29, but they were 1- for- 14 from three- point range and shot 40 percent overall.
Ethan Happ scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists for Wisconsin ( 1010, 3- 4). He was one of four Badgers to score in double figures, led by Brad Davison’s 18.
The win snapped a streak of three straight conference losses in which the Badgers failed to score more than 60 points. But they cracked that mark with more than 11 minutes left in the game, and their 43 points at half time was their best mark for a half in Big Ten play this season.
Few Big Ten coaches look for moral victories. But at least Illinois, which lost two- thirds of its minutes from last year’s NIT squad, could say it had been competitive in its first six conference losses. That wasn’t the case Friday.
Michigan State 85, Indiana 57
Miles Bridges scored 22 points and Nick Ward had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the No. 9 Spartans’ rout.
The host Spartans ( 17- 3, 5- 2 Big Ten) had a confidence- boosting performance after going from a top- ranked team to a reeling one.
The Hoosiers ( 11- 8, 4- 3) lost for the first time in four games and fell into a fourth- place tie with Michigan and Nebraska.
Michigan State took control with an 18- 0 run midway through the first half, led by as much as 23 and was ahead 42- 23 at halftime. Cassius Winston had 10 points, eight assists and only one turnover for the Spartans.
Indiana’s Robert Johnson had 21 points, but the rest of his team mates struggled offensively. Josh Newkirk scored 14 points but missed 12 of 17 shots, and the Hoosiers were held to 34 percent shooting.