After going down early, Michigan State basketball survived a nail-biter vs. Illinois to stay undefeated and alone at the top if the Big Ten.

The Illini slowed the Spartans' fastbreak, but they also had their own best player brought to a screeching halt early

The Spartans' win over Illinois bought breathing room against one of the Big Ten's most dangerous title contenders.

MSU, which is ranked No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is coming off a 90-85 victory over Penn State on Jan. 15 in East Lansing. Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) is ranked No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and is coming off a 94-69 win over Indiana in its most recent game on Jan. 11.

Michigan state jumped four spots following their win over Illinois and now sit at No. 8 overall, leading the Big Ten conference. Purdue is the closest Big Ten team, sitting at No. 11. Oregon fell to No. 15 following their loss to Purdue.

Columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on MSU's performance in an 80-78 win over Illinois on Sunday afternoon with three quick takes.

After going down early, Michigan State basketball survived a nail-biter vs. Illinois to stay undefeated and alone at the top if the Big Ten.

After the game, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, who is a great friend of Tom Izzo’s, spoke to the media about the game. As always, he was complimentary of Izzo and his squad, but also frustrated about the fouls called on his star point guard Kasparas Jakucionis.

No. 12 Michigan State men's basketball was able to best No. 19 Illinois in what was one of its toughest tests of the season.