Injuries and foul trouble forced MSU head coach Tom Izzo to use an unusual lineup near the end of the first half during the Spartans' 63-57 victory against Illinois on Sunday.

Sophomore guard Maurice Joseph was still feeling the effects of an ankle sprain, and freshman forward Raymar Morgan experienced cramping in his calf.

Meanwhile, several of the Spartans' big men had picked up two first-half fouls.

As a result, Izzo put junior forward Jacob Hannon and junior guard DeMarcus Ducre into the action.

"I'm sure most of you enjoyed the last three minutes of the first half's lineup," Izzo joked. "I couldn't call anything because I didn't know the names of my guys that were out there."

Junior guard Drew Neitzel scored 19 points.

The Breslin Center crowd exploded with applause when sophomore forward Marquise Gray slammed home an alley-oop pass from Joseph early in the second half. The crowd helped MSU (15-4 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) force one shot-clock violation and also caused Illinois (13-6, 1-3) players to take poor shots by starting an early shot-clock countdown.

"Our fans might have been as important today as our guards," Izzo said.