ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Nik Stauskas scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half, and No. 20 Michigan beat No. 13 Michigan State 79-70 on Sunday to take over first place in the Big Ten.
Caris LeVert added 23 points for the Wolverines (19-7, 11-3), who won both regular-season meetings against their in-state rivals. Michigan has now won six of its last eight against Michigan State.
The Spartans (22-6, 11-4) led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Michigan State was only up 36-34 at halftime. Then Stauskas and LeVert led a second-half charge. The Wolverines trailed 52-51 before going on a decisive 17-4 run that sent the Crisler Center crowd into delirium.
Gary Harris scored 21 points for Michigan State.
With the Wolverines down 48-43, Stauskas scored seven consecutive points to give Michigan the lead. When the Spartans edged back ahead by one, Stauskas answered with a three-pointer, and it soon become clear that there wasn’t much Michigan State could do to keep him from simply shooting over defenders on the perimeter.
A three-pointer by Stauskas from the right wing put Michigan ahead 59-52, then LeVert added a three-pointer and a dunk.
With the Spartans wearing down, Jon Horford dunked for Michigan to make it 68-56 - and that ended a stretch of 23 consecutive Michigan points by Stauskas or LeVert.NO. 11 CREIGHTON 72, SETON HALL 71
OMAHA, Neb. - Doug McDermott had 29 points to become one of the top-10 scorers in college basketball history, and No. 11 Creighton survived shaky free throw shooting at the end to post a hardearned victory.
Grant Gibbs added a season-high 16 points, and the Bluejays (23-4, 13-2) took a half-game lead over Villanova in the Big East standings.
Fuquan Edwin had 21 points to lead the Pirates (14-13, 5-9), who have lost four of five.
Creighton missed five of its last six free throws, allowing Seton Hall to stay in the game to the end. McDermott, an 89 percent foul shooter, missed two before Austin Chatman fouled Edwin on the other end. Edwin made both free throws to make it a one-point game with 8.2 seconds left.
Ethan Wragge missed two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Edwin’s desperation three-pointer bounced off the backboard at the buzzer.
SMU 64, NO. 21 CONNECTICUT 55
STORRS, Conn. - Nick Russell and Nic Moore each scored 15 points to lead SMU to a victory over No. 21 Connecticut and a sweep of their season series with the Huskies.
Markus Kennedy added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs (22-6, 11-4 American), who have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier combined to shoot 8 for 28 for Connecticut (21-6, 9-5), but each had 15 points. The Huskies had won four in a row and 10 of 12.
The Mustangs never trailed. They led by two at halftime, but extended that to 10 points midway through the second half.
The Huskies cut the lead to 55-49 on a three-pointer by Napier, but Sterling Brown answered with a three-pointer and SMU held on down the stretch.
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/24/2014