No. 11 Michigan State Uses Big Second Half to Beat Illinois, 79-65, as Tom Izzo Becomes Big Ten All-Time Leader in Conference Wins

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 11 Michigan State used a 15-0 run over the final six-plus minutes and came back from a 16-point deficit to beat Illinois, 79-65, at State Farm Center on Saturday night.

The win was the 354th Big Ten Conference victory for Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, passing former Indiana coach Bob Knight for the most conference wins in league history.

Junior forward Jaxon Kohler scored a career-high 23 points and had 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, leading four players in double figures.

Junior guard Tre Holloman added 14 points and three assists, freshman guard Jase Richardson added 11 points and three rebounds and sophomore forward Coen Carr added 10 points and four rebounds.

SECOND TO NONE. pic.twitter.com/nRNoDV4Nme
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 16, 2025

Records
Michigan State improves to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten Conference, while Illinois falls to 17-9 overall and 9-7 in league play.

Recap

Michigan trailed by 16 points in the first half, by four at halftime, took a four-point lead early in the second half and were again down by four before tying the game at 52-all on a dunk from junior center Carson Cooper with 13:48 to play.
Over the next five minutes the teams went back and forth, with three ties and seven lead changes.
After a jumper from Holloman gave MSU a 64-63 lead at 8:55, Ben Humirichous scored 26 seconds later to give the Illini a 65-64 lead.
That would be the last lead for Illinois and the last points they scored in the game.
Holloman hit a jumper at 6:58 to give MSU the lead for good at 66-65 and started a 15-0 run over the remainder of the game as Illinois went scoreless for 8:29.
A three-point play from Richardson with 5:50 left gave MSU a 69-65 lead, Holloman fed Cooper for a dunk at 3:35 to make it 71-65 and Kohler's three-point play with 1:56 made it 74-65.
Kohler sealed the game on a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left, setting his new career-high in points, to push it to 77-65 and Holloman closed out the scoring on free throws with 39 seconds left.
The Spartans were down by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed 41-37 at the break before a 3-pointer from Kohler gave MSU its first lead of the game at 42-41 (18:41).
That was part of an 11-3 run over the opening 3:01 of the second half as the Spartans took a 48-44 after a jumper from Holloman and a layup from Kohler (17:04), forcing Illinois to call a timeout.
The Illini responded with an 8-0 run over 2:08 and took a 52-48 lead on a layup from Morez Johnson Jr. before the Spartans tied the game at 52-all after free throws from senior forward Frankie Fidler (14:29) and a dunk from junior center
Illinois jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first six points of the game and forced Michigan State to call a timeout following back-to-back three-pointers from Jake Davis increasing the Illini lead to 17-6 at 14:48.
MSU came out of the timeout and narrowed the cap to 21-13 when sophomore forward Xavier Booker hit a 3-pointer at the 12:03 mark.
Illinois used a 10-2 run to take a 31-15 lead on a basket from Will Riley at 10:15 before back-to-back baskets from Richardson and Kohler pulled MSU back to within 10 points, 31-21, with 7:19 before the half.
The Spartans used a 13-0 run over 3:47, with Carr and Kohler accounting for all of the points, to pull within 35-34 at the 2:10 mark.
Kohler's second 3-pointer cut the Illinois lead to 38-37 with 1:41 left but Jakucionis hit a trey with 32 seconds left to bring it to 41-37 at the break.

Key Stats

Michigan State held Illinois to just 24 points in the second half, limiting the Illini to just 22.6 percent shooting from the floor (7-of-31).
The Spartans out-rebounded the Illini, 27-18, in the second half, collected eight offensive rebounds and scored 12 second-chance points.
MSU shot 48.5 percent from the floor for the game, hitting 48.6 percent in the first half (17-of-35) and 48.5 percent in the second half (16-of-33).
Illinois committed 11 turnovers and the Spartans scored 21 points off turnovers.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Illinois, 67-64, and has won the last three meetings.
- The Spartans are now 22-42 in games played at Illinois.
- The win snapped a three-game losing streak at State Farm Center and was MSU's first win since Feb. 11, 2020, when a Xavier Tillman put-back gave the Spartans a 70-69 win.
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is 30-22 all-time against Illinois.
Izzo's career record is now 727-300.
Izzo is now 354-173 all-time in the Big Ten and moved past former Indiana coach Bob Knight for the all-time lead in conference wins.
Michigan State is now 6-2 on the road, including a 5-2 record in Big Ten games.
- The 5 conference road wins are the most since the 2019-20 team had 6 wins away from home.
The Spartans are now 2-5 when trailing at halftime.
Michigan State out-shot Illinois (48.5% to 38.1%) and is 19-1 when shooting better than their opponent.
Michigan State out-rebounded its opponent for the 22nd time this season and has an 18-4 record in those situations.
The Spartans are now 12-0 when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent (MSU 7, Illinois 11).
MSU is 19-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
MSU hit a season-low 8 free throws and took only 13 shots from the free throw line, tied for the lowest in a game this season (Colorado).
The Spartans received 33 points from the bench, the 20th time in 25 games with at least 30 points.
Jaxon Kohler scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
- It was his seventh game scoring in double figures this year and the ninth of his career.
- He has nine games with double figure rebounds this year and 10 for his career.
- This was his sixth double-double of the year and his seventh career.
- Kohler also hit a career-high 4 shots from three-point land.
  - Kohler tied an individual team season-high for 3-point field goals made with 4 (Holloman 4 vs. Minnesota; Akins 4 vs. Nebraska).
- Kohler tied his season and career-high with 2 steals.
Tre Holloman scored 14 points off the bench, adding three assists and two rebounds.
- It was his ninth game scoring in double figures this year and the 14th of his career.
Jase Richardson scored 11 points while starting his third-straight game.
- This was his 12th game scoring in double figures.
Coen Carr had 10 points, all in the first half.
Jaden Akins scored 8 points, snapping a six-game double figure scoring streak.
- Akins now has 1,108 career points and he needs 2 points to pass Joshua Langford (2016-21) for 47th place.
Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
- He led the team in assists for the 15th time this season the 16th of his career.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center to host Purdue on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The game tips off at 7 p.m. (Peacock), with Noah Eagle and Robbie Hummel calling all of the action.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center to host Purdue on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The game tips off at 7 p.m. (Peacock), with Noah Eagle and Robbie Hummel calling all of the action.

No. 11 Michigan State Uses Big Second Half to Beat Illinois, 79-65, as Tom Izzo Becomes Big Ten All-Time Leader in Conference Wins

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Team Stats

Jaxon Kohler

Tre Holloman

Jase Richardson

Coen Carr

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Xavier Booker

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

No. 11 Michigan State Uses Big Second Half to Beat Illinois, 79-65, as Tom Izzo Becomes Big Ten All-Time Leader in Conference Wins

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Jaxon Kohler

Tre Holloman

Jase Richardson

Coen Carr

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Xavier Booker

Coen Carr

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Frankie Fidler

Tre Holloman

Jaxon Kohler

Jase Richardson

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