TULSA, Okla., Sporting Alert – No. 5 Michigan State cruised past Illinois, while UCLA upset No. 7 Arizona in college basketball scores on Thursday night.
NO. 5 MICHIGAN STATE 79, ILLINOIS 54
Bryn Forbes hit three 3-pointers and shot 7 of 13 from the field on his way to scoring 17 points and Eron Harris added 13 for the Spartans (15-1, 2-1 Big Ten) who collected their second conference victory.
Forbes received praises for his big game, but head coach Tom Izzo thinks he can still improve.
“I didn’t think Bryn had his best game. He can make shots, but he’s been playing a lot better defensively and he’s been rebounding better,” Izzo said. “Tonight he has one rebound and maybe wasn’t as sharp defensively. He’s been playing better defensively and tonight I didn’t think I’d put it there. He can make shots.”
Izzo added: “Eron Harris was a better defender and I’m going to be critical of Bryn because he’s a very good player and he’s got to become a great player. I think he has all the tools to.
Matthew Mitchell / MSU Athletic Communications
“As he said to me, he was a little out of sync tonight and he brought that up to me. We’ve got to get that sync back in sync.”
Deyonta Davis ended with 10 points, rebounds and four blocks, while Matt McQuaid finished with 10 points and five assists in the win for Michigan State which is still without All-American forward Denzel Valentine.
Matt Costello tallied 14 rebounds, two block shots and nine points for the fifth-ranked Spartans, who shot 53.2 percent and outrebounded Illinois 46-27.
Maverick Morgan led the Fighting Illini (8-8, 0-3 Big Ten) with 15 points and Malcolm Hill finished with 10 points and six boards for Illinois which shot just 29.8 percent and was limited to just seven assists in the defeat.
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Meanwhile, Bryce Alford netted 25 points, including hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 0:04 left to help UCLA scored an 87-84 victory over the seventh-ranked Arizona on Thursday night.
Alford hit five 3-pointers and was 9 of 18 from the floor, while dishing out six assists and had four rebounds for the Bruins (10-6, 1-2 Pac-12) to earn their first Pac-12 win of the season.
Aaron Holiday added 15 points, six assists, three rebounds for UCLA which collected 14 points and 12 rebounds from Tony Parker and 14 points and six assists from Isaac Hamilton.
Overall, as a team, the Bruins shot 51.6 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range.
Ryan Anderson added 15 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (13-2, 1-1 Pac-12) who had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
Alonzo Trier scored 13 points and Kaleb Tarczewski added 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in the defeat for Arizona which missed four of its five shots to start the game.
The Wildcats led just once in the contest as UCLA blew the game wide open in the second half to lead by as many as 14 points.
But Arizona came back to knot the game at 84-84 with an Anderson free throw with 0:15 left before Alford connected from behind the arc to seal the win for the Bruins.
In other college basketball scores on Thursday night, No. 15 SMU rallied to beat Cincinnati 59-57 and remained undefeated, while Quentin Snider scored a career-high 21 points to help No. 16 Louisville to a 77-72 win over North Carolina State.
College Basketball Scores – AP Top 25
Full Box Scores, Scoreboards
Thursday, Jan. 7
NO. 5 MICHIGAN STATE 79, ILLINOIS 54
UCLA 87, No. 7 Arizona 84
NO. 15 SMU 59, CINCINNATI 57
NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 77, N.C. STATE 72
NO. 20 PURDUE 87, MICHIGAN 70
