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Tom Izzo watched Michigan State gut out an 80-78 win Sunday over then-No. 19 Illinois and declared the Fighting Illini the best team in the Big Ten.

“I’m not slighting us, I’m not slighting Purdue, I’m not slighting Michigan or anyone else,” the Spartans’ coach said. “I just think that right now, that was a tough team to play.”

The fact is, No. 8 Michigan State defeated its toughest opponent yet to remain the only unbeaten team in conference play. Izzo’s team will carry that record and an 11-game overall winning streak to New York to face Rutgers on an ostensibly neutral court Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Spartans (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten) needed 17 points from Tre Holloman and 11 apiece from Frankie Fidler and Coen Carr off the bench to take down Illinois, whose star guard, Kasparas Jakucionis, fouled out in just nine minutes of action.

It was Holloman’s second-highest point total of the season and well above his season average of 8.1, fifth on the team.

“The goal was to keep on fighting, keep on chipping away and keep on guarding,” Holloman said after the Spartans trailed for most of the first half, by as many as 10 points.

“We had rebounds we gave up, especially offensive rebounds, but we just had to box out. I came in and hit some big shots, and so a shout-out to my teammates for just trusting me, and we just kept on fighting.”

Michigan State had five days between games to prepare for its trip to New York. The Spartans will play the Scarlet Knights at MSG instead of at Rutgers’ campus for the second time in three seasons.

On Feb. 4, 2023, Rutgers rallied from a nine-point hole with 42 points in the second half to beat Michigan State 61-55.

“Getting an opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden is always fun,” Izzo said Wednesday. “I think for the players, especially, those are when you make memories, and I think we’ll have a pretty good turnout of Spartan fans, too.”

The veteran coach went on to compliment Rutgers (10-9, 3-5) despite the fact the Scarlet Knights have lost four of six and know their NCAA Tournament dreams are on life support. Star freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper make Rutgers dangerous in any game.

“It’s going to be Fourth of July and Christmas for them, but it’s going to be kind of exciting for us,” Izzo said, “and I just hope that we continue to play with the energy that we’ve had and kind of build on the consistency.”

Bailey scored a career-high 30 points in Rutgers’ most recent game, an 80-72 loss at Penn State on Monday.

Bailey was nearly automatic from the field (13-of-15 shooting) but was called for two technical fouls in the final five minutes, yielding free throws to Penn State and sapping momentum from Rutgers’ comeback efforts.

“Just keep learning,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said of his message to Bailey. “Don’t let your emotions get the best of you down the stretch. But Ace played hard; he played really well.”

Lately, Pikiell has been rolling with a starting lineup featuring four freshmen: Harper, Bailey, forward Dylan Grant and center Lathan Sommerville. They’ve been joined by veteran guard Tyson Acuff, who has gone scoreless in the past two games.

Bailey averages 19.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and Harper’s scoring average has dipped to 19.3 ppg. No other Scarlet Knight averages more than 7.2 ppg.

Pikiell told the Asbury Park Press he doesn’t mind giving up a Big Ten home game to play at MSG.

“In recruiting it’s one of those things that I use,” he said. “We may not have the most NIL, but this is something we can do. The families are excited about it, too — the families know more about Madison Square Garden sometimes than the kids.”

–Field Level Media