Sunday, February 29, 2004
The Spartans have won five in a row and eight of nine.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Paul Davis scored 16 points and Michigan State used a big first-half run to beat Penn State 67-42 on Saturday.
Michigan State (17-9, 12-3) has won five in a row and eight of its last nine.
Penn State (9-16, 3-11 Big Ten) couldn't recover after falling behind by 15 points in the first half. The Nittany Lions closed to within 10 points late in the first, and Ben Luber's pull-up jumper got them within 42-30 with 11:50 left in the game.
But Chris Hill answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Spartans, starting a 12-0 run -- Davis' dunk made it 54-30 -- that put the game out of reach.
Kelvin Torbert scored 15 points for Michigan State, Hill scored 14 and Maurice Ager had 11. For the first time this year, the Spartans didn't attempt a single free throw.
Penn State has lost eight in a row and 11 of its last 12 after starting 2-0 in Big Ten play. Marlon Smith led the Nittany Lions with 16 points.
Michigan State led 34-22 at halftime.
Illinois 66, Northwestern 56
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois guard Dee Brown scored 20 points, but it was the 23rd-ranked Illini's inside scoring that broke open a close game.
Forward Roger Powell and center Nick Smith combined for 17 second-half points as Illinois (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) won its eighth straight game. The pair scored all of Illinois' points in a decisive 12-6 run that put the Illini up 55-44 with 8:52 to go.
Illinois eventually pushed its lead to 17 points with 5:31 to go, thanks to two 3-pointers from Brown during an 8-2 run.
Smith finished with 14 points and Powell had 13. Deron Williams also scored 13 points for Illinois.
Northwestern (12-13, 7-7), which beat Illinois 70-60 earlier in the season by getting the ball inside, was kept out of the paint through most of the second half and had to shoot over the Illini defense. As a result, the Wildcats shot only 37 percent in the second half, after shooting 52 percent in a close first half that included eight lead changes.
Vedran Vukusic and Jitim Young each had 16 points for Northwestern, while Mohamed Hachad scored 14.
Iowa 66, Minnesota 62
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Brody Boyd scored 16 points and made several key plays for Iowa (15-10, 8-6 Big Ten).
Minnesota (10-17, 2-13), playing without Big Ten leading scorer Kris Humphries, got 16 points from Michael Bauer and 14 from Adam Boone. Humphries, averaging 22 points per game, injured his ankle earlier in the week and did not dress for the game.
Iowa also got 14 points from Jeff Horner. Greg Brunner scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Iowa shot 55 percent in the first half but cooled in the second, hitting just 32 percent from the field after halftime. Minnesota shot 38.6 percent, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
Iowa jumped out to an early lead, only to see the Gophers surge back behind Michael Bauer's outside shooting. Bauer, who had 13 first-half points, scored eight straight in a two-minute span to give Minnesota a 22-17 lead with 10:29 to go.