half. However, foul trouble to Nick Ward and Miles Bridges led to a big run by Wisconsin in the final few minutes of the half and put the Badgers within one at the half. MSU, however, countered in the second half and controlled the half led by Ward's 20 points and nine rebounds. Matt McQuaid contributed for the Spartans as well, scoring 15 points mostly on drives to the basket. Miles Bridges added 15 and Cassius Winston added 10 points and nine assists as the Spartans pulled away. In the waning seconds of the game with MSU comfortably ahead, Tom Izzo sent the injured Eron Harris on the court so that he could get his opportunity as a senior to kiss the Spartan logo on the court. Izzo had McQuaid travel with the ball with less than five seconds remaining so the crowd could cheer Harris on as he kissed the Spartan logo. The big win by MSU, 84–74, likely secured MSU's NCAA Tournament appearance with two regular season games remaining. The win put MSU at 18–11 and 10–6 and put them in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten with Minnesota and Maryland, over whom MSU held the tiebreakers. March Looking to improve their NCAA Tournament position and remain off the bubble, the Spartans traveled to Champaign on March 1 to visit an Illinois team who was looking to get into the bubble discussion. MSU started well, but Illinois answered and took the half time lead. MSU kept it close in the second half, but trailed for most of it. Miles Bridges led the Spartans with 21 points and Alvin Ellis added 15 (13 of which came in the second half). MSU struggled inside as their lack of depth allowed Maverick Morgan to score 14 points, most over Kenny Goins. Illinois also hit 11 three-pointers as the Spartans turned the ball over 15 times. Still, MSU had a chance to tie it on two separate occasions, but a Bridges shot with less than 10 seconds remaining and Nairn's last second heave missed the mark and Spartans fell 73–70. The loss knocked the Spartans back into a fifth place tie at 10–7 in conference and left the NCAA Tournament streak still in question at 18–12. With a chance to secure the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament on March 3, Michigan State traveled to Maryland