A road rarity: Seniors spark MSU to first win at Illinois since 2002

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - It was a 12-17 Illinois team, but it was Michigan State in a Big Ten road game.

Neither are very good.

So on Thursday night at Assembly Hall, they went about deciding who could overcome whose bothersome trends.

Ultimately, No. 17 MSU got the job done, coming up with the stops and shots to secure a 59-51 victory, its first here since 2002. Illinois' issues - disappearing offense and bad free-throw shooting - continued.

"It's a huge win, the first time I've won here in my career," said MSU senior guard Drew Neitzel, who led the way with a game-high 17 points. "It's something that hasn't come easy in the past."

Nothing has on the road in the recent past. The Spartans (24-6 overall, 12-5 Big Ten) have their first win away from home since Jan. 24 at Northwestern. They improve to 3-5 in Big Ten road games this season, 6-18 over the past three seasons.

MSU did it thanks in large part to Neitzel and the other senior named Drew, Naymick. Coming off an emotional senior day and 103-74 rout of Indiana on Sunday, both hit big shots to put and keep the Spartans ahead in the second half.

MSU, down 10 points in the first half, fought to a 31-31 halftime tie, then got the first seven points of the second - on a pair of Naymick jumpers and a Neitzel 3-pointer.

"We just kind of rolled from there," Neitzel said.

MSU would not relinquish the lead. Illinois (12-18, 4-13) got within three, 46-43, but Neitzel responded with a 3-pointer with 7:01 left to double the advantage.

The shot of the night went to Naymick, a long jumper near the 3-point line with 1:45 left to put the Spartans up 55-47. He finished with 12 points.

"I was looking over at (official) Ted Hillary to see if he'd raise the arm (to signify a 3-pointer)," Naymick said. "I was out there, I thought it had a chance. So I'm still 0-for-0 in my career from 3-point range."

Goran Suton had his third straight strong outing for MSU, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Raymar Morgan had eight points, all in the first half. He played just nine minutes in the second half because of an ailing stomach.

Freshmen Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers also were affected and, according to MSU coach Tom Izzo, getting sick in the locker room after the game.

"I don't know, they're all throwing up, so I don't know," Izzo said when asked if he knew the specific ailment. "I was gonna throw up a couple times during the game."

But Izzo's team persevered. MSU continued its turnover improvement, giving it away 11 times against a team that forced 20 turnovers in MSU's 51-41 win in Breslin Center.

The Spartans also picked up their defense after a wobbly start, holding Illinois to 31.6 percent shooting in the second half. The Illini turned it over 12 times, including six from freshman point guard Demetri McCamey.

Travis Walton's hounding defense caused a few of those.

"We had a couple guys that played great, I thought we got a lot out of Travis Walton," Izzo said. "I thought we got a pretty good game out of Neitzel, considering he was guarded by one of the best defensive players (Illinois' Chester Frazier). And Naymick really gave us a lift."

Illinois got 13 points from Shaun Pruitt, but just two in the second half as Naymick did a better job of denying him the ball. Illinois, the Big Ten's worst team at the foul line, was dreadful again (9 of 19).

But the Illini still battled because "they always do," Naymick said, and the Spartans came away pleased with their long-awaited breakthrough.

"We all know what the situation was," said Naymick of MSU's road difficulties. "We lost two tough games at Iowa and Penn State. That's disappointing and it's gonna hurt for a long time. At the same time, we had confidence we could win this game."

Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@lsj.com.