Michigan State Clinches Share of Big Ten

As Kalin Lucas strengthens his case as the Big Ten player of the year, his Michigan State team continues to distance themselves from the rest of the conference. Sunday was no different, as the Spartans went into Champaign, Ill., and took down arguably the second-best team in the league.

Lucas paced Michigan State with 18 points, as the Spartans knocked the Illini's home record to 15-3. Illinois didn't play especially poorly, it just isn't good enough to hang with Michigan State. No one in the conference is.

As long as the Spartans play to their capability, they won't lose. It's just that simple.

No. 9 Michigan St. 74, No. 20 Illinois 66 : AP Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

With this victory, Michigan State virtually sewed up the regular season Big Ten championship, along with the top seed in the conference tournament. While it's possible for them to lose their two remaining conference games -- which would give Purdue a shot to force a tie, should the Boilermakers win both -- it's not really plausible. They have a road tilt with Indiana before squaring off against Purdue in East Lansing, Mich. The real motivation in these last two games is playing for a favorable NCAA tournament seeding. If they manage to win out -- including the conference tournament -- they have an outside chance at a number one seed.

For Illinois, they'll look to bounce-back at Penn State Thursday. A win in that game would give the Illini a 12-6 conference record, which far exceeds preseason expectations for Bruce Weber's troops. They'll either be the two or three seed in the Big Ten tournament, and head back to the NCAA tournament. A very strong showing from here on out would give them a shot at a four seed, but they're likely to end up around the six seed line.

Sunday could have been a significant boost in terms of seeding for Illinois, but they never held a lead. They battled all the way back to tie the game at 58 with 7:21 left, but just couldn't get over the hump. Lucas showed his mettle on offense, and the Spartans defense buckled down, forcing Illinois to continually settle for outside jumpers.

Michigan State outrebounded Illinois 34-27, and had 11 steals compared to only three from the home team.