The Spartans have now won four consecutive games and six of their last seven.

Senior guard Travis Trice had 18 points, shooting 10-for-12 at the line, to go with five rebounds and four assists. His free throw shooting offset his poor shooting night. He went 4-of-13 from the field and 0-for-3 from three.

Junior guard Denzel Valentine had 20 points and nine rebounds, and senior forward Branden Dawson added 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

It was a game of runs to start — MSU scored first five before giving up 12 consecutive Illinois points. The Spartans missed a number of shots at the rim, but a Dawson dunk and Forbes 3-pointer at the 8:37 mark tied the game at 14.

Junior guard Bryn Forbes' layup on the next offensive possession was goal-tended, caping MSU's run at 7-0 to give them a 16-14 lead.

Junior forward Matt Costello and sophomore forward Schilling each picked up two fouls in the first half, making way for a Colby Wollenman appearance.

Trice got off to a rough start, missing his first seven shots. His eighth shot — a pull-up jumper — found the bottom of the net and gave the Spartans a 24-22 lead with 1:27 left in the first half.

Trice drained an off-balance jumper with 18 seconds left to make it a four-point MSU advantage at halftime. The Spartans ended the half on an 8-0 run.

Valentine hit his first triple of the game early in the second half to push the lead to 29-23 and extend MSU's run to 11-1.

The Spartan bench erupted when Wollenman, filling in for Schilling and Costello who each had three fouls, drove to the rim for a two-handed dunk to push the lead to six once again.

Dawson made an athletic finish at the rim to help MSU maintain a six point lead, but picked up his third foul with 8:42 to play.

Valentine hit his second triple of the night to extend MSU's lead to eight, 49-41, with 5:45 left.

The refs were quick to blow their whistle in the second half, and Trice took advantage by driving to the rim. His layup with 4:33 on the clock gave MSU a double digit lead, 52-41, and forced a Fighting Illini timeout.

Illinois bounced back. An ugly turnover by Valentine eventually set up a Rayvonte Rice layup that cut MSU's lead to 52-47 with 2:35 to play.

Costello fouled out with 1:19 on the clock. Rice hit both free throws to cut MSU's lead to 52-49 and extend the run to 8-0.

Valentine knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:17 on the clock to snap Illinois' run, but the Fighting Illini got a steal and score with 50 seconds left to trim the lead back down to three.

Dawson then committed a bad mental error, moving while inbounding the ball with 46.8 seconds left to give possession back to Illinois.

Kendrick Nunn missed a 3-pointer on the ensuring possession, and Illinois fouled Trice to stop the clock. Trice drained both free throws the stretch the lead back to five and ice the game.

Valentine capped off the win with a breakaway dunk with 2.2 seconds left.