Sparty on! Michigan State wins Big Ten title

This time, the Spartans have the Big Ten championship all to themselves.

Michigan State clinched the conference regular season crown as Morris Peterson scored 13 points Sunday in a 56-51 win against No. 13 Wisconsin , stretching the Spartans' winning streak to 14 games.

"They're a very good team," Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett said. "In a league that's really solid, Michigan State is as worthy a champion as you can have. We made them play half-court and they were good enough to beat us."

It was the first outright title since 1990 for the fourth-ranked Spartans (14-1 Big Ten, 25-4 overall), who were forced to share the conference crown with Illinois after losing the last game of the season to Purdue in 1998. Wisconsin fell to 9-5 in

AP PHOTO Center Calvin Booth helped Penn State, formerly the last-place team in the Big Ten, surprise No. 17 Purdue 78-70 in West Lafayette on Saturday.

the conference with an overall record of 21-6.

"This feels good," said Antonio Smith, whose 11 rebounds helped the Spartans to a 39-19 edge on the boards. "We weren't satisfied last year, you know. We had to go out there and accept a trophy after just being beaten." Not this time.

When the final buzzer sounded, Michigan State players jumped and hugged while hundreds of students in green "Izzone'" T-shirts rushed onto the floor at Breslin Center. A metal ladder was set up under the south basket and each player, starting with the three seniors, took turns in cutting down the net.

"I've never been on a championship team in my life," Peterson said. "That emotion was unbelievable. It was just overwhelming to me. And I'm so happy for coach. This was all his plan."

No. 20 Iowa 78, Illinois 72

Jess Settles played 20 minutes and scoring 16 points in the 20th-ranked Hawkeyes' 78-72 win over Illinois yesterday.

He even scored a thunderous dunk - although he landed on his back.

"I told the team, 'the old man still has got some hop,'" said the sixth-year senior, who missed nearly all of two seasons because of injuries.

"We have to work on his landings a little bit," laughed Iowa coach Tom Davis.

Kent McCausland scored a season-high 18 points to help Iowa (8-6 Big Ten, 17-7 overall) snap an 11-game losing streak at Illinois.

Illinois (3-12, 11-16) led by four at halftime, but Iowa scored the first seven points of the second half.

The game remained close, and Illinois was leading by four points when Iowa went on a 17-3 run - including three consecutive 3-pointers - to take a 68-58 lead with 3:08 left to play.

A 3-pointer and a layup by Damir Krupalija put Illinois within five with just under a minute to play, but McCausland hit two free throws to stretch the lead to seven for the Hawkeyes.

No. 11 Ohio State. 59, Northwestern 49

The frequently forgotten Neshaun Coleman came off the bench to score 16 points as the 11th-ranked Buckeyes outmuscled Northwestern 59-49 Saturday.

"I knew we were going to be good, but I never dreamed we'd be this good," Coleman said after the Buckeyes, 8-22 last year, improved to 21-6 and remained in contention for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The victory was the sixth in a row and the eighth in nine games for the surprising Buckeyes. A year after winning just one of 16 conference games, Ohio State maintained sole possession of second place in the conference at 11-3.

Penn State 78, No. 17 Purdue 70

Dan Earl had 18 points and reserve Greg Grays scored 14, including four 3-pointers, as Penn State snapped its six-game losing streak by defeating No. 17 Purdue 78-70 Saturday.

"Our mental toughness was great. There have been too many games like this when we didn't come out on the winning end," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said.

Grays did his damage in the first half, scoring 11 points when the Nittany Lions (3-12 Big Ten, 11-13 overall) took the lead for good.

Calvin Booth contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds.

02-22-99