The Spartans' win over Illinois bought breathing room against one of the Big Ten's most dangerous title contenders.

The Illini slowed the Spartans' fastbreak, but they also had their own best player brought to a screeching halt early

After the game, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, who is a great friend of Tom Izzo’s, spoke to the media about the game. As always, he was complimentary of Izzo and his squad, but also frustrated about the fouls called on his star point guard Kasparas Jakucionis.

The most significant matchup of the early Big Ten season also proved to be its best, as No. 12 Michigan State outdueled, outlasted or maybe just survived a slugfest with No. 19 Illinois, hanging on for an 80-78 win Sunday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Michigan basketball didn’t exactly have a great week. Sure, it got a win on Sunday in overtime against Northwestern, but it also had an inexplicable loss early in the week at Minnesota — also in overtime.

The climb continues for the Michigan State men's basketball team. The Spartans moved up four spots to No. 8 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, released Monday. Michigan State (16-2,

Michigan State takes down Illinois, Rutgers gets two victories and Purdue's win streak extends to seven games. How it all impacts the Big Ten power rankings.