VIDEO: Michigan State Wins Thriller Against Illinois on Xavier Tillman's Last-Second Put-Back Dunk
By Thomas Carannante
The Michigan State Spartans led by as many as 20 in this one, but the Illinois Fighting Illini proved why they're having one of their best seasons in years. Illinois used their home crowd to get back into this one and actually took their first lead of the game late in the second half. After a back-and-forth in the final minutes, the Illini secured a one-point lead with under 20 seconds remaining, but they perhaps focused too closely on Cassius Winston during Michigan State's final possession:
Michigan State putback slam for the -135 ML win against Illinois
— B/R Betting (@br_betting) February 12, 2020
Sparty (-2) wins a 70-69 thriller but doesn’t cover ?
(via @BigTenNetwork)pic.twitter.com/kcMjjqlapO
FOUR Illinois defenders converged on Winston, which allowed Xavier Tillman to clean up on the boards and ferociously slam the missed layup home. That gave the Spartans a 70-69 lead with six seconds remaining.
Illinois would turn the ball over on the other end with their final possession, allowing Michigan State to snap their three-game losing streak. Can't we just fast forward to the Big Ten Tournament?