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MSU rallies from halftime deficit to beat Michigan, clinch co-Big Ten title

Posted at 10:23 PM, Mar 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-09 22:32:45-05

EAST LANSING, Mich.  — It was a tale of two halves, as No. 7 Michigan took a 35-29 lead at halftime against Michigan State. But it was the ninth-ranked Spartans’ game in the second half of the Big Ten regular season title-deciding game Saturday night.

Michigan State won, 75-63, with 46 second-half points at the Breslin Center. The Spartans (25-6, 16-4) also beat Michigan on February 24th in Ann Arbor, 77-70. MSU shares the conference regular-season crown with No. 11 Purdue.

Cassius Winston scored 23 points – 16 in the second half – and contributed seven assists for the Spartans, while sophomore Xavier Davis scored 17 points with six rebounds. Kenny Goins pulled down 16 boards for the Green-and-White.

Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis led Michigan with 20 points and Jordan Poole added 15. But none of the Wolverines had more than four rebounds, and Brazdeikis fouled out with 5:10 left in the game. Michigan shot only 31.3 percent from the field in the second stanza.

MSU shares the Big Ten regular-season title with Purdue (16-4), which beat Northwestern on Saturday, 70-57. It’s the Boilermakers’ 24th Big Ten title, but  Michigan State held the tie-breaker over Purdue for the top seed in next week’s Big Ten Conference men’s basketball tournament in Chicago. The Spartans get a bye into the Big Ten Conference Tournament quarterfinals, and will play Friday at 12:30 p.m.

Michigan (26-5, 15-5) will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and will play around 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

The first two games of the conference tournament will be Wednesday, March 13th. The Big Ten Championship Game will be Sunday, March 17 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (EDT).