Spartans and Wolverines win hard fought B1G games!

MSU Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines both won games that they had to win on Sunday. Both teams needed to win these games yesterday and in regards to the Spartans, it was a redemption game against the Fighting Illini on the road.  A few weeks ago in East Lansing, the Spartans lost a hard fought game that they should of won. The Spartans played poorly down the stretch and missed so many FT's and it cost them the game. This time out, they played hard and shot 85% from the FT line which helped them to win this game. It was an up and down game for the most part with the Spartans playing great defense in holding Illinois to only 28% shooting from the floor.The trio of Dawson, Trice, and Valentine were too much for Illinois!  The Spartans only downside of this game was they were up 11 with a little over 4 minutes to go in the game and then starting to turn the ball over and makes some mental mistakes that allowed Illinois to get back into the game with a minute or so to go. But down the stretch, the Spartans made their FT's when they needed to and won on the road and are now tied for 2nd place in the B1G with Purdue and Maryland It was the 4th straight win for the Spartans and this run late in the season should help them move up a seeding or two when the NCAA tourney starts in a few weeks.    As for the Wolverines, this was more of a gut check game for them. They played poorly this past Tuesday against MSU and needed to play a better all around game to beat the OSU Buckeyes.  The Wolverines came out and showed some emotion and intensity and led by as many as 20 points before the Buckeyes made it close for a while at the end. There were some questionable referee calls down the stretch but Michigan held on and played with determination to beat the #24 Buckeyes in a game they needed to win to stop the downward spiraling that there season had taken. The Spartans play Minnesota on Thursday this week at home and the Wolverines travel to Maryland on Saturday.  @cupofjoeinthed