Illinois vs. Michigan State Basketball: What to Know About the Game Saturday

No. 12 Illinois visits the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans after Kofi Cockburn scored 20 points in Illinois’ 70-59 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

At halftime, the Fighting Illini were up 34-22 against the Spartans.

BREAKDOWN

The Spartans are 10-2 in home games. Michigan State scores 72.7 points while outscoring opponents by 6.6 points per game.

The Fighting Illini are 11-4 in Big Ten play. Illinois is fifth in the Big Ten shooting 36.2% from downtown. RJ Melendez leads the Fighting Illini shooting 66.7% from 3-point range.

The teams square off for the 10th time in conference play this season. The Fighting Illini won the last meeting 56-55 on Jan. 26. Trent Frazier scored 16 points to help lead the Fighting Illini to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS

Gabe Brown is scoring 12.1 points per game and averaging 4.3 rebounds for the Spartans. Joey Hauser is averaging 0.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Michigan State.

Cockburn is averaging 21.4 points and 11.3 rebounds for the Fighting Illini. Alfonso Plummer is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES

Spartans: 5-5, averaging 68.1 points, 30.7 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 69.0 points, 31.1 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 4.9 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.5 points.

from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/tjXQgIi