Feb 24, 2019 3 min read

Underestimate Tom Izzo and Michigan State at your peril.

The Spartans are plenty dangerous – even when they’re short-handed and playing on the road against a highly ranked rival.

Cassius Winston had 27 points and eight assists, and 10th-ranked Michigan State moved into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a 77-70 victory over No. 7 Michigan on Sunday.

Kenny Goins had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Xavier Tillman added 14 points for the Spartans, who snapped Michigan’s 22-game winning streak at Crisler Center despite being without two of their top three scorers.

“I don’t need to be an underdog anymore – those days are over,” said Izzo, who moved within three victories of 600 as Michigan State’s coach. “I don’t need to have anybody feel sorry for us. Those days are over. Doesn’t matter, nobody cares – put a jersey on a kid and he goes.”

Joshua Langford is out for the season, and Nick Ward is recovering from a broken hand, but Goins and Tillman produced in Ward’s absence.

Michigan (13-4, 24-4) led by six early in the second half, but that advantage was short lived. Down 51-45, the Spartans (14-3, 23-5) outscored Michigan 21-7 to take control. The Wolverines shot 2 for 14 from 3-point range in the second half.

Michigan had won three straight games in this series, including two last year when Zavier Simpson more than held his own against Winston in the matchup of point guards.

Winston was terrific Sunday, though, keeping his team afloat early in the second half and leading a 77-point effort against one of the best defensive teams in the country. Michigan State had only six turnovers, negating an area that figured to be a Michigan advantage.

Xavier 66, Villanova 54: Naji Marshall scored 17 points and Xavier used a big surge in the second half to rally past No. 17 Villanova 66-54, leaving the Wildcats with three straight losses in Big East play for the first time since the conference was reconfigured.

The Musketeers (7-8, 15-13) won their fourth straight – matching their season high – and ended their run of lopsided losses against the Wildcats. Villanova (11-4, 20-8) had won five in a row against the Musketeers.

Marshall had seven points during a 17-0 run that gave Xavier its first lead midway through the second half. Marshall has been the catalyst during Xavier’s winning streak, averaging 20.5 points.

Villanova struggled to hit shots during back-to-back road losses at St. John’s and Georgetown, and it carried over. The Wildcats missed 11 consecutive shots during Xavier’s decisive run and were only 4 of 18 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Phil Booth had 12 points in the first half, when the Wildcats led by as many as nine points. Their 30-27 halftime lead ended a streak of three straight halves allowing at least 40 points. Booth made only one of his eight shots in the second half and finished with 14 points.

Cincinnati 64, UConn 60: Keith Williams scored 12 points and Cane Broom added 10, including a late 3-pointer that helped Cincinnati to a 64-60 road win over UConn.

Justin Jennifer also had 10 points for the Bearcats, who have won 11 of their last 12 with the only loss during that stretch coming at No. 9 Houston, which leads Cincinnati (23-4, 12-2 American) by a game in the race for the AAC title.

Christian Vital had 14 points and Alterique Gilbert had 13 to lead UConn (13-14, 4-10).