On Selection Sunday , the Spartans squared off with Michigan for the third time in only two weeks , this time for the tournament championship . MSU , who won the previous two games against the Wolverines , started well , jumping out to a 17 – 11 lead halfway through the first half . However , Spartan guard Kyle Ahrens went down hard on his ankle while coming down with a rebound in the first half and was taken out on a stretcher with an air cast on his leg . Following the injury , Michigan finished the half outscoring the Spartans 10 – 6 , giving them a 31 – 23 lead at the half . The Wolverines came out hot in the second half , causing the Spartans to fall behind 39 – 26 in the early going . The Spartans were able to dig deep and complete a 22 – 9 run , tying the game at 48 . MSU trailed the Wolverines by five with just over two minutes remaining , but a Matt McQuaid three pointer and a Cassius Winston assist to Xavier Tillman tied the score at 60 with 1:20 left in the game . A missed Zavier Simpson three-pointer led to a Winston lay up and a Spartans 's lead at 62 – 60 with 29 seconds left . The MSU defense forced Michigan into bad shot attempts and MSU finished by making three of four free throws to give them the 65 – 60 win . MSU finished the game on a 10 – 0 run to earn their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2016 . The win was the school 's sixth tournament championship , which leads the Big Ten . The win also completed a three-game season sweep of in-state rival Michigan
Big Ten Tournament title
2016 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2018–19 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team