No. 10 Illinois lets another late lead slip away in an 88-80 loss to Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A.J. Hoggard scored 23 points and Malik Hall added 22 to lead Michigan State over No. 10 Illinois 88-80 on Saturday.

Tyson Walker scored 19 point for the Spartans (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten), who rallied from an eight-point deficit over the last six-plus minutes to bounce back from a loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.

Hoggard’s three-point play with 4 minutes, 10 seconds remaining made it 72-all — the 13th tie of the game. Shortly thereafter, Michigan State scored eight straight points to take control.

After missing free throws late in the loss at Minnesota, the Spartans took advantage at the line with Hoggard making 12 of 13 free-throw attempts and Hall 7 of 9.

The Fighting Illini (17-6, 8-4) failed to keep a late lead for the second straight game. They led Nebraska by 10 with 3:29 remaining Sunday before needing to go to overtime for a win.

Terrance Shannon Jr. scored 28 points for Illinois and Coleman Hawkins 14. Marcus Domask was held to 12 points — eight below what he was averaging in conference games.

Hawkins was called for a technical for saying something to the crowd following a 3-pointer early in the first half. Michigan State’s Jaden Akins drew a technical for taunting the Illini bench after making a 3-pointer with 49 seconds before halftime.

Up next

Illinois: Hosts Michigan on Tuesday night.

Michigan State: Visits Penn State on Wednesday.