Michigan State finished on a 14-to-1 run last night at Minnesota to rally for a critical 53-to-48 win over the Gophers. The victory boosted the Spartans NCAA tournament hopes, putting them above the .500 mark in the Big Ten for the first time in three weeks.

M-S-U was down by eight points with less than 5 minutes remaining when they started their comeback. Kalin Lucas scored a game-high 18 points for the Spartans, who improved to 8-and-7 in the conference and 16-and-11 overall.

Also last in the Big Ten, second-ranked Ohio State rebounded from back to back losses to beat visiting Illinois 89-to-70.

Tonight, it’s Michigan at home against #12 Wisconsin while in the MAC, Western Michigan hosts Toledo.

And the NCAA has suspended Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun three Big East games for next season and placed the program on 3 years of probation as part of the penalties stemming from an investigation for recruiting violations.