EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Carson Cooper had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored all of his 15 points in the second half to help No. 12 Michigan State come back to beat Northwestern 76-66 on Thursday night.
Jaxon Kohler added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans (14-2, 4-1 Big Ten), who trailed by seven at halftime and eight in the second half before rallying to win for the sixth time in seven games.
The Wildcats (8-7, 0-4) lost their lead because they left Kohler open on the 3-point line, and they couldn’t keep Michigan State off the boards or slow down Fears offensively.
Kohler’s 3-pointer gave the Spartans a 46-45 lead midway through the second half. The senior forward made another 3 — after teammates grabbed two offensive rebounds on one possession — to put Michigan State ahead by eight with 6:37 left.
The Wildcats pulled within two with 2:04 to go, but Fears hit a layup and Coen Carr had a dunk to seal the win.
Nick Martinelli scored 28 for Northwestern — but didn’t get much help as the team’s only scorer in double digits. Tyler Kropp had nine points off the bench, and Jayden Reid added eight points (on 3-for-14 shooting), eight assists and four steals.
NO. 8 GONZAGA 89, SANTA CLARA 77
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike had 34 points and 11 rebounds to power Gonzaga to a victory over Santa Clara.
Ike made 13 of 17 field goal attempts and went 7 for 8 on free throws as the Bulldogs (17-1, 5-0 West Coast Conference) shook off a sluggish first half and won their 10th straight game since getting blown out by No. 2 Michigan in late November.
Emmanuel Innocenti added 13 points and Braden Huff scored 12 for the Zags, who shot 58% from the floor to 43% for Santa Clara. Ike finished one point short of his career high.
Allen Graves led the Broncos (13-5, 4-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Santa Clara upset Gonzaga in Spokane last year, but the Zags have a 73-32 lead in the series.
NO. 16 ILLINOIS 81, RUTGERS 55
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Keaton Wagler scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points to lead Illinois to a victory over Rutgers.
Andrej Stojakovic had 12 points and eight rebounds, Jake Davis scored a dozen points and David Mirkovich grabbed eight rebounds for the Illini (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight.
Illinois was 18 of 21 at the free-throw line. The Illini lead the Big Ten and are No. 3 in the country in free-throw percentage.
Kaden Powers scored 12 points and Harun Zrno had 11 points for Rutgers (8-8, 1-4).
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