ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 18 points, leading No. 3 Michigan in a 90-80 win over No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday to give the Big Ten champions a 15th straight conference win.
The Wolverines (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) head to the conference tournament, hoping to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before shooting for the school’s second national championship and first since 1989
The Spartans (25-6, 15-5) were swept by their rivals in the regular season, but might get a third shot against them in a week at the Big Ten Tournament final.
Lendeborg, a preseason All-America selection, was the best player on the court for the second time in the series.
The UAB transfer was 8 of 12 from the field, matched a career high with five 3-pointers, had three assists and also made winning plays at the other end of the court.
After Jeremy Fears Jr. made a jumper to pull Michigan State within three points with 3:47 left, Lendeborg made a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to start a 10-2 run that sealed the victory.
NO. 9 NEBRASKA 84, IOWA 75, OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Cale Jacobsen came off the bench to score 13 of his 15 points after halftime and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in overtime, and Nebraska matched its program record for wins in a season with a victory over Iowa.
Sam Hoiberg, who scored 15 points and had five steals on his senior day, hugged teammate Pryce Sandfort near halfcourt as time ran out and then heaved the ball high into the stands. He and his father, coach Fred Hoiberg, embraced and a short time later the rest of the Huskers came out of the tunnel to salute the sellout crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) led by 10 points with five minutes left in regulation but missed five of its next seven shots and a couple of late free throws to let the Hawkeyes back in it. Kael Combs scored Iowa’s last eight points of regulation, including a second-chance 3-pointer that tied it 70-all with 2.7 seconds left.
After Cooper Koch tied it at 75-all in overtime, Jacobsen made a 3 from the corner and the Huskers went on to score the final nine points. The Huskers beat Iowa (20-11, 10-10) for the first time in five meetings and split the season series.
NO. 11 ILLINOIS 78, MARYLAND 72
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — David Mirkovic had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Illinois held off Maryland.
The Terrapins (11-20, 4-16 Big Ten) have had a desultory season under first-year coach Buzz Williams, losing 20 games for the first time since 1988-89, but they gave the Illini (24-7, 15-5) a battle. Illinois led 63-62 before Ben Humrichous made a 3-pointer that started a 7-0 run for the Illini.
The Terps pulled back within two, but a successful challenge of an out-of-bounds call enabled the Illini to keep the ball with 1:04 to play. Mirkovic worked free for a layup inside, and Maryland’s next possession went about as badly as possible when the Terrapins used most of the shot clock before Andre Mills misfired from 3-point range.
Maryland was down four in the final seconds when Darius Adams was unable to convert a layup.
The win gave Illinois a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals in the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini also tied a program record with their eighth road win in Big Ten play.
