The MSU men's basketball team hasn't won back-to-back games since December, a span of nine games, and the road to two straight victories won't be easy.
After knocking off No. 19 Indiana 61-54 on Tuesday, the Spartans (11-8 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) have an even harder challenge when No. 13 Illinois invades Breslin Center at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Spartans last won back-to-back games when they defeated South Florida on Dec. 21, and followed that with an easy win against Jacksonville State on Dec. 28.
But the Fighting Illini (15-3, 5-2) are no pushovers. Illinois is coming off a 67-60 win over Michigan that snapped the Wolverines' 13-game winning streak. This is the same Illinois team that knocked off Minnesota (11-6, 3-3) in Minneapolis - something the Spartans couldn't do. Last season, the Illini were one of two teams to defeat MSU at Breslin Center.
"They're definitely a great team," senior forward Aloysius Anagonye said. "They definitely have the high-low going, they have a strong inside game and they have quick, high-flying guards that can catch the alley-oop."
Teams are never made of one player, but if Illini forward Brian Cook was taken off the roster, it would be hard to believe the team could be 15-3.
Cook dropped in a season-high 30 points against the Wolverines on Wednesday. That bumped his Big Ten-leading scoring average to 21.1 points per game. And the senior has shown up in big games. He scored 22 points against North Carolina in a 92-65 Illini win. And against the Golden Gophers, Cook recorded a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. He also ranks fourth in the conference with 7.6 rebounds per game.
Cook also shoots just under 80 percent from the foul line and has a 54.2 field goal percentage. He can score in the paint and from beyond the 3-point line.
"He's one of the best players in the country," sophomore guard Alan Anderson said. "(If) you don't stop Cook, you aren't going to win the game."
Although the Spartans sit in seventh place in the conference, Illinois head coach Bill Self was quick to dismiss any implications that the Spartans were a lousy team.
"No coaches will ever admit that their team is intimidated, but (MSU) does have a presence about them," Self said. "They are still going to make a dent in (the Big Ten).
"As far as I'm concerned, they are still the standard in our league, regardless of them getting off to a slow start."
Despite Self's praises, Izzo, MSU head coach, feels his team will have to play near perfect to win.
"It's a game I still think our backs are against the wall in," he said.
