No. 5 MSU leads Illinois 47-22 at halftime.
The Spartans were led by senior gurad Byrn Forbes with 10 points and freshmen guard Matt McQuaid with eight points and three assists.
With injuries aplenty for Illinois, they knew they would have to rely heavily on their two primary players in juniors Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill who average 18.5 and 17.9 points per game respectively. So when it was announced shortly before game time that Nunn would not be playing because of the birth of his child back in Illinois, and Hill picked up two fouls in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play, MSU knew they could exploit the young Illinois team.