How Michigan State Returned to 'Spartan Basketball' Against Illinois

No. 10 Michigan State was in the midst of its annual February slump as it hosted No. 5 Illinois in an epic overtime game at the Breslin Center on Saturday night.

While not entirely unexpected, something had suddenly changed for the Spartans in recent games. They weren't executing at the same level, they weren't playing with the intensity and energy all of Spartan Nation has come to expect of the program, and they weren't excelling at the most basic levels of the fundamentals that have helped establish MSU basketball's identity.

But Michigan State snapped out of it against the Fighting Illini, pulling out a "had-to-have-it" top-fice win.

"We needed the win," head coach Tom Izzo said postgame. "We needed to play like Michigan State. We needed to rebound and run. We needed to get back to doing what we do. But are we over the hump? Hell no."

MSU Gets Back to Playing Spartan Basketball

For the first time in a while, you could see the clear markings of an MSU basketball team. They got up and down the floor with pace and purpose on both ends and physically challenged a much bigger and longer Illinois team. They came up with key defensive stops and rebounds, won the overall rebounding battle by a sizeable margin, and excelled in the open floor with an impressive 22-0 advantage in fastbreak points.

Michigan State's scorers and top performers also stepped up and played their roles perfectly. Then, when everything was on the line, somebody would make a play without panic, whether it was Jeremy Fears driving the lane, freshmen Cam Ward and Jordan Scott or Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper chasing down loose balls and rebounds, or Kur Teng calmly knocking down a three-pointer to take the lead in crunch time after missing an open look.

KUR TENG. CLUTCH. ❄️

(via @CBBonFOX) pic.twitter.com/8a404FbFmk
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 8, 2026

The energy and inspiration seemed to be replenished, and the Spartans once again looked like an elite basketball team.

Turning the Tide

One play in particular seemed like a turning point in the game. Trailing 12-10 less than eight minutes into the contest, Ward snagged a defensive rebound, and instead of being complacent and passing the ball off to a more experienced guard as he had most of the season, he decided to make a play.

CAM WARD‼️

The @MSU_Basketball freshman throws down a giant poster jam.

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/AjtEh60GxW
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 8, 2026

The freshman went coast-to-coast and finished with an electrifying dunk that instantly had the crowd buzzing. The play epitomized Spartan basketball, and out of that appreciation came a resurgent energy and attitude.

"I felt the energy change after that, and everyone just kept the same energy going forward," Ward said. "That's just the type of team we are. Once something happens, it's a chain effect. Everything starts to fall into place, and we played the whole game with 40 minutes of that."

Ward, who was one of the more impressive Spartans early in the season before suffering an injury, finished with one of his more complete and efficient games of the season. He played 18 minutes, scored eight points, and had seven rebounds while missing just one shot.

"It was definitely a building block game," he added. "I felt more like myself today -- just making plays out there, just trying to have an impact, and just using this game as momentum. We've got a big game versus Wisconsin coming up, and then the back end of our schedule is pretty tough, so just to continue the season strong and finish the season out strong and have a good end to the year, I think this was a good game to help that."

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