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NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 68, WISCONSIN 63
MADISON, Wis. -- Cassius Winston scored 20 points and went 6 for 6 from the three-point line, and No. 2 Michigan State held off Wisconsin 68-63 on Sunday to earn the outright regular-season Big Ten title.
Winston hit two threes during an 11-2 run in the second half -- the second with a defender in his face from well beyond the arc -- to lead the Spartans (28-3, 16-2).
Brad Davison finished with 30 points for Wisconsin (14-17, 7-11), including a three with 4.7 seconds left that had hometown fans holding out hope for an upset.
Miles Bridges wrapped up the Spartans' 12th consecutive victory with two foul shots.
It was a milestone in what has been a challenging season off the court for Michigan State basketball.
One issue involved Bridges. The star forward had 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting in his first game since getting cleared by the NCAA following a Yahoo Sports article on Friday that identified him as one of many players who may have received improper benefits.
"The research that (the school) did and the NCAA did ... and the fact that the NCAA moved on it quickly, there are reasons that they did," Coach Tom Izzo said. "But they cleared him to play or I wouldn't have played him, so he's cleared to play."
Winston and Nick Ward, who had 14 points, picked up the scoring slack. Winston's three with 4:45 left gave the Spartans a 58-51 lead, a huge cushion in what had been a tight game.
Davison nearly single-handedly brought Wisconsin back, giving the Badgers a huge boost even after aggravating a left shoulder injury. The freshman sprinted to the locker room with a trainer with about 14 minutes left before returning a couple minutes later and checking right back into the game to rousing applause.
He scored Wisconsin's next six points, popping perimeter jumpers to electrify an already vocal home crowd in the regular season finale.
The teams dueled the rest of the way until Bridges' late foul shots.
Michigan State muscled its way to a 34-27 halftime lead by taking control of the paint early before softening up the perimeter for Winston. The sophomore sharpshooter made 3 of 4 from beyond the arc in the first half, with a couple buckets coming quickly in transition.
In other Top 25 men's games Sunday, Dakota Mathias matched his career high with 25 points and left to a standing ovation in his final home game as No. 9 Purdue (26-5, 15-3 Big Ten) blew out Minnesota (15-16, 4-14) 84-60. ... Gary Clark led a 24-4 run that put No. 11 Cincinnati (25-4, 14-2) ahead to stay early in the second half, and the Bearcats held on for an 82-74 victory over Tulsa (17-11, 10-7) that preserved their one-game lead in the American Athletic Conference heading into the final week. ... Caleb Martin scored 25 points, Jordan Caroline had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 20 Nevada (25-5, 14-2) clinched the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West Tournament with a 92-83 victory over Colorado State (11-19, 4-13). ... Rob Gray had 19 points and 11 assists, and No. 23 Houston (22-6, 12-4 American) used a huge first half en route to a 109-58 victory over East Carolina (10-17, 4-12). ... Allerik Freeman scored 25 points, Torin Dorn added 19 and Sam Hunt had 14 to help North Carolina State (20-9, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) beat No. 25 Florida State (19-9, 8-8) 92-72.
Sports on 02/26/2018