Spartans struggle offensively, fall to Illinois 42-41

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After more than 39 minutes of ugly basketball and with its best player on the bench, the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team still had a chance to beat Illinois on Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.

Trailing 42-41, the Spartans had the ball with 8.1 seconds left. And with senior forward Draymond Green out battling the flu and an apparent knee injury he suffered late in the game, head coach Tom Izzo went to sophomore guard Keith Appling.

Finding his way into the lane, Appling got off a potential game-winning layup, but it fell short, leaving MSU with its third loss in Big Ten play.

Despite dominating on the offensive boards in the first half, MSU (17-5 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) struggled mightily shooting the ball against Illinois (16-6, 5-4). The Spartans scored first when freshman guard Branden Dawson made two free throws after being fouled on a putback attempt a little more than a minute into the game.

However, starting out 0-for-8 from the field, MSU’s first basket didn’t come until four minutes into the game when sophomore center Adreian Payne hit a 3-pointer to give the Spartans an early 5-4 lead.

The half remained ugly throughout, as the two teams combined for nine turnovers in the game’s first six minutes. MSU finished the half with 10.

With 10:56 to play in the first half and MSU down 11-10, Green backed over Illinois’ Brandon Paul for his second foul of the game. Green, who was joined by senior guard Brandon Wood with the flu, reacted to the call, drawing a technical and his third personal foul.

Without Green the rest of the half, MSU continued to struggle on offense, shooting just 7-for-30 (23.3 percent) from the field in the first 20 minutes.

One of the few bright spots for the Spartans was the play of Dawson, who scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes. As a team, MSU outrebounded Illinois 24-17, including a 13-7 advantage on the offensive glass.

Illinois scored the first four points of the second half to take a six-point lead, the biggest of the game to that point. The Fighting Illini lead hovered around six for the majority of the half, as both teams continued to shoot poorly and turn the ball over.

But with just under six minutes to play, freshman guard Travis Trice hit a 3-pointer to bring the Spartans to within one point, 35-34. And after a stop on defense, Green made his first field goal with 4:52 to play to give MSU the 36-34 lead — its first since it was 14-12.

Just as things seemed to be going the Spartans’ way, though, Paul hit a shot, and Green went down to the floor grabbing at his left knee with 3:50 to play. Green hopped off the floor without putting any weight on his left leg and never returned to the game.

After Dawson scored inside to give MSU a 40-37 lead, Illinois responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game with 2:13 left.

With 45 seconds to play, Paul hit two free throws to give Illinois the 42-40 lead. MSU then had three chances to tie or take the lead but failed to convert, with Trice missing a long 3-pointer, junior center Derrick Nix splitting a pair of free throws and Appling’s missed layup.

The Spartans shot 14-for-58 (24.1 percent) for the night and connected on just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) of their 3-point attempts. Dawson was MSU’s only double-digit scorer, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Next up for MSU is a home rematch with Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Spartans lost to the Wolverines 60-59 on Jan. 17 in Ann Arbor.

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