MSU Flexes Defensive Muscle, Holds Illinois without a FG the Final 8m:29s

**State Farm Center- Champaign, IL**

Michigan State found themselves reeling in the first half, this time down 4 and allowing 40+ points. The team rallied around their defensive strengths and Jaxon Kohler suddenly became “that guy” for MSU. Kohler stayed hot and finished with a career-high 23 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals on 9-13 FG (4-5 3-pt) in a massive run over the final 9 minutes, holding Illinois without a FG made

Think Jaxon Kohler knew how big his effort play was? 😤

The @MSU_Basketball F’s clutch And-1 in Saturday’s historic win at Illinois is our #B1GMBBall 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠.

📍 @OldTrapper pic.twitter.com/sC2ugkDBBL

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 17, 2025

Jase Richardson had 11 points on 5-10 FG with 3 rebounds while Coen Carr had 10 points on 5-6 FGs and 4 rebounds and Tre Holloman chipping in 14 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists.

The defense stepped up, Carr battled foul trouble, and the Spartans got to the free throw line enough down the stretch to keep Illinois from making any serious run. MSU smothered them, forced turnovers and bad shot selections, along with some simply bad luck for Illinois as they did miss a handful of 50/50 shots. In the end, the defensive grit that has carried MSU to impressive wins returned in dynamic fashion against a talented home squad, looking for revenge from the last game.

MSU had a +10 points in the paint and scored 21 points off 11 Illinois turnovers, taking that by a +11 point edge. While neither team shot well from the free throw line, MSU was flying on the defensive end in the second half, overcoming a 16 point deficit to end up on a +30 swing to win 79-65. Afterward, Coach Izzo and staff stopped to acknowledge the milestone win graciously, still thinking about the larger goal, a Final Four run to a title.

SECOND TO NONE. pic.twitter.com/nRNoDV4Nme

— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 16, 2025

This will be short lived to celebrate. Michigan defeated Purdue Sunday evening, shifting the top of order now with UofM leading by a game and 5 days of rest before they host MSU this coming Friday. MSU has been caught looking ahead once, it will not happen again. The Izzone will be charged up to give the Boilermakers all they can handle in a critical conference showdown, with the winner potentially in the driver seat to the regular season crown. Stay tuned, game can be seen on Tuesday, 2/18 at 7pm on Peacock Network/

TEAM STATS:

Spartans: 33-68 FG (48.5%), 5-12, 3-PT (41.7%), 8-13 FT (61.5%)

Fighting Ilini: 24-63 FG (38.1%), 7-33, 3-PT (21.2%), 10-13 FT (76.9%)

Record/Rankings & More:

20-5 (10-3, 1st-Big Ten) Rankings: #14 AP / #14 Coaches Poll
Updated KenPom- Off: 27th / Def: 13th. Adjusted Tempo: 150th. SOS Net Rtg: 44th +9.48

Updated Bart Torvik- ADJOE: 31st/ADJDE: 15th / EFF.FGD%: 45.7 (17th) / ORBD %: 36.9 (15th) & DRBD %: 25.9 (24th)

Other Metrics: KPI (18th), ESPN SoR (15th), ESPN BPI (17th), T-Rank: 16th — #5 in FT % (80.5%), #8 in FTM/game (18.5)

FULL KenPom Stats: https://kenpom.com/index.php

FULL Bart Torvik Stats: https://barttorvik.com/#

FULL T-Rank Stats: https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2025/net-teamsheets-plus#google_vignette