The game was all we could have hoped for in terms of a dramatic finish, although it didn’t look like that would happen at one point. But it also ended with anyone who’s a fan of the game hoping, praying that it didn’t end with a thud after all.
The scoreboard says Michigan State scored a big road win by edging Illinois 70-69. The play-by-play shows that the Spartans got the winning basket in the final seconds off their own miss. But let’s hope Illinois didn’t lose more than the game.
The Spartans led by as many as 20 early in the second half after holding a 17-point lead at intermission. With 12 minutes left, they still led 56-39. Illinois then rallied, scoring the next ten points to start a 22-4 run to eventually take the lead with 5:29 left. That was going to be a big test for this team. Could they rebound and regain the lead? So many times, blowing a big lead proves to be a psychological blow from which a team doesn’t recover.
They did just that, and it began a stretch where the two teams traded baskets and at one point 4-0 mini-runs. The game had turned from a blowout into a great game, destined for a photo finish.
In the final seconds, Cassius Winston drove to the left and drew a bunch of defenders, and as his shot missed off to the right side of the rim, there wasn’t an Illini player there to get a body on Xavier Tillman, who threw down the stickback to put the Spartans up again.
Illinois would get one last chance, but they never got a shot off. The play-by-play in the box score will say that Illinois star guard Ayo Dosunmu committed a turnover, but what happened was scarier than a box score can possibly convey. The final buzzer sounded, but there was a subdued feeling in the arena and not just because the home team lost.
Dosunmu, the super sophomore guard, dribbled to the right side, tried to stop and pull back, perhaps to put up a jumper after a defender may have continued towards the baseline. But his left foot slipped ahead, then his leg kept going and he went down badly, grabbing at his leg around his knee in obvious pain as he lost the ball and the Spartans ran out the clock.
Watching it as it happened, it looked scary. You watch sports long enough and you get a feel for what injury might occur given what happens; you come to know what it looks like when a guy tears an ACL or something similar. I didn’t really think about the final result at that point, as all I could think about was how scary that looked.
Dosunmu was helped off the floor moments later, and although it wasn’t clear, it didn’t look like he was putting weight on the left leg. We can only hope the end result isn’t so bad, because he’s a big part of Illinois’ resurgence this season. Chances are, we won’t find out until well into Wednesday, when he will be evaluated and you figure will have at least an MRI. And waiting for that word will feel like the hardest part.
Michigan State got a big win to snap a three-game losing streak. But let’s hope Illinois – and college basketball – doesn’t lose Ayo Dosunmu to a serious injury. Let’s hope that it ends up looking scarier than it is.
Side Dishes
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Penn State took care of Purdue 88-76 in West Lafayette, and Maryland barely held off Nebraska 72-70 in College Park.
San Diego State took care of business at home by breaking open a close game in the second half and blowing out New Mexico 82-59 to go to 25-0. In other Mountain West action, Utah State scored a nice road win at Colorado State, holding off the Rams 75-72 behind 32 points from Sam Merrill, while Boise State joined them at 9-5 with a 74-57 home win over Air Force.
One of the biggest games on the slate was an Atlantic 10 showdown in Dayton, as the Flyers hosted second-place Rhode Island. It didn’t live up to its billing, though, as the Flyers scored the first 17 points of the game and held Rhode Island under 29 percent from the field en route to an 81-67 win in a game that featured seven technical fouls. These two teams will meet in Rhode Island in a couple of weeks, but the Rams don’t control their own destiny being two games back.
Other results of note: Kentucky trailed by nine at halftime, but took over in the second half to handle Vanderbilt 78-64; LSU edged Missouri 82-78; Ole Miss blew out arch rival Mississippi State 83-58 as Breein Tyree remains hot with 40 points; Tennessee blew out Arkansas 82-61; St. Bonaventure kept Saint Joseph’s winless in Atlantic 10 play with a 74-56 win in Philadelphia; NC State continued Syracuse’s strange struggles at home, beating the Orange 79-74 in the Carrier Dome; and Virginia edged Notre Dame 50-49 in overtime in a game where the teams combined for just five points in the extra session.
Tonight’s Menu
It’s a packed night of action, though a bit light on great matchups.
- A pair of Big East games get the night going early as Creighton visits Seton Hall and Butler tries to regain momentum against a Xavier team that has come to life (6:30 p.m.), then Villanova hosts Marquette and Providence travels to St. John’s (8:30 p.m.)
- The SEC also gets going early with Georgia hosting South Carolina (6:30 p.m.), then a rivalry matchup is on tap as Auburn hosts Alabama (7 p.m.) and then Texas A&M hosts Florida (8:30 p.m.)
- In Big 12 action, Kansas goes to West Virginia (7 p.m.) and Iowa State visits Oklahoma (9 p.m.)
- On the slate in the Big Ten is Ohio State hosting Rutgers (7 p.m.) and Northwestern hosting Michigan (9 p.m.)
- South Florida gets another chance to impact the race in the American Athletic Conference as they host conference leader Houston (9 p.m.)
- The best of the late games is in the Mountain West, where in-state rivals meet as UNLV hosts Nevada (10 p.m.)
