Illinois Fighting Illini vs Michigan St. Spartans Box Score on Feb 19, 2022

Kofi Cockburn scored 27 points and Jacob Grandison added a season-high 24 as No. 12 Illinois joined Purdue atop the Big Ten standings by holding on for a 79-74 victory over No. 19 Michigan State Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.

Cockburn finished one rebound shy of his school-record 43rd double-double for the Illini (19-7, 12-4), who never trailed as they swept the season series with the Spartans. Trent Frazier, who finished with 12 points, swished a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to stop Michigan State's desperate comeback attempt.

The Spartans (18-8, 9-6) trailed by 16 with nine minutes to go, but Tyson Walker poured in 18 of his season-high 26 points in the final 6:30 to bring the hosts almost all the way back. A.J. Hoggard added 15 points and eight assists while Julius Marble posted eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo missed another chance to tie Bob Knight for most wins at a Big Ten school. Knight won 662 in 29 years at Indiana while Izzo owns 661 in his 27th season at MSU.

Illinois jumped to a 19-8 lead on Cockburn's dunk with 9:47 left in the first half -- a possession that featured four quick passes around the perimeter that kept the ball one step ahead of Michigan State's rotating defense.

Michigan State went 6:23 without a point as Hoggard's running bank shot with 5:59 left snapped a 9-0 Illinois run. Prior to that point, the Spartans missed 15 of their first 18 shots and committed six turnovers.

Grandison canned 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half to stake Illinois to a 34-22 lead at the break. The Illini pushed their lead to a game-high 16 (40-24) on Alfonso Plummer's jumper 1:31 into the second half, but the Spartans dug in and quickened the game's tempo.

Michigan State chopped its deficit to 47-39 on Walker's 15-foot pullup with 12:40 to go, but Illinois restored its lead to 62-46 on Frazier's second-chance 3-pointer with 9:10 left.

Again the Spartans rallied within eight on Marble's jump hook with 4:25 to go, then Walker went wild to drill two 3-pointers, a 17-footer and a driving 3-point play to get the Spartans within 76-74 with 47 seconds left. Frazier answered with the clinching 3 with 23 seconds left.

--Field Level Media