During the run, a key game-tying 3-pointer from Matt McQuaid set up after four offensive rebounds helped turn the game in MSU's favor for good. Three of the boards were caught by Aaron Henry, who on the final rebound emptied it out to Cassius Winston, who found McQuaid at the right wing.

Swish.

"We were just trying to get a tip out or something," McQuaid said. "Then I saw (Henry) get another one and another one, I was like 'Jesus'. Those were big plays on his part."

The win marks the Spartans' fourth straight win and the first without Nick Ward, MSU's second leading scorer, who suffered a hairline fracture in his left hand during Sunday's win against Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have dropped five of the last six.

Winston led all scorers with a game-high 28 points and eight assists. Forward Xavier Tillman scored a career-best 19 points in his second start of the season, surpassing his previous best of 16 at Illinois earlier this month. McQuaid finished with 11.

Tillman also had 10 rebounds, marking his third double double of the season.

Geo Baker led his team with 17 points. Ron Harper Jr. finished behind Baker with 11 points as the only two Rutgers players to finish in double figures.

"They really hurt us during a six-minute stretch there where we kind of lost it," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "They did a really good job on the backboards, getting second opportunities. So second them, it's why they're one of the best teams in the league."

Spartans began an out of sorts first half with an 0-for-6 spell from the floor during the first three minutes. Rutgers, however, was only able build a four point lead before McQuaid's first 3-pointer put MSU on the board at the 17:05 mark. 

Winston helped MSU's offense find a rhythm momentarily, leading a 9-0 spurt in which he chipped in an assist and back-to-back scores for to help take a 13-9 lead. Rutgers stormed back with a 21-5 run that started after Thomas Kithier was called for a Flagrant Foul attempting to grab a defensive rebound. 

The run was capped by a jumper from Harper, which gave the Scarlet Knights a 30-20 lead with 4:16 till halftime. Free throws from McQuaid and Winston and a dunk from Tillman helped MSU cut the halftime deficit to a 32-25 game.

The Spartans converted on 9-of-30 shots from the floor, including a 3-for-10 mark on layups, compared to RU's 39.4 percent shooting for the half. 

"I thought we didn't play very good at all the first half," MSU coach Tom Izzo said. "I don't know if we had the jitters, Xavier missed some layups, Aaron Henry missed some layups, a lot of guys missed some layups."

After allowing back-to-back baskets to Rutgers to open the second half MSU went on an 8-0 run to cut its deficit to a game with 15:52 to play. Shortly after, the Spartans put the game away for good with a 27-6 run to eat up most of the second half — a span in which Rutgers was held without a field goal for over seven and a half minutes.

McQuaid's momentum changing triple was toward the beginning of the runaway stretch to tie the game at 40 with just over 12:35 to play. On the next possession, Winston finished an off-hand layup to give MSU its first lead, 42-40, of the half.

Rutgers shrank MSU's once 16-point lead into a 62-52 game with 1:39 remaining. The Scarlet Knights resorted to fouling, and were unable to get any closer. 

The Spartans found their shot in their much smoother second half — shooting 52.0 percent on 25 attempts from the floor, aided in part from the 45-31 rebounding margin for the game.

Despite Rutgers' record, Tillman said to keep pushing without Ward marked a great win.

"It builds tremendous confidence," Tillman said. "Just because they are our leaders, they're our captains those are the guys we look up to. So for us to hold it down without as much is good for us."

Up Next

The Spartans travel to Ann Arbor for a 3:45 p.m. tipoff against No. 7 Michigan (23-3, 12-3) on Sunday, marking the third top-10 matchup ever between the rivals. 

Both teams remain near the top of the conference and the matchup could determine the Big Ten regular season's champion.

"We're going to celebrate our win," said Winston, a Detroit native. "But come tomorrow, we're going to be focused on the game this weekend."