Feb 25, 2018 4 min read

Cassius Winston scored 20 points and went 6 for 6 from the 3-point line, and No. 2 Michigan State held off Wisconsin 68-63 Sunday to earn the outright regular-season Big Ten title.

Winston hit two 3s during an 11-2 run in the second half – the second with a defender in his face from well beyond the arc – to lead the Spartans (16-2, 28-3).

Brad Davison finished with 30 points for Wisconsin (7-11, 14-17), including a 3 with 4.7 seconds left that had hometown fans holding out hope for an upset.

Miles Bridges wrapped up the Spartans’ 12th straight win with two foul shots.

It was a milestone victory in what has been a challenging season off the court for Michigan State basketball.

One issue involved Bridges. The star forward had 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting in his first game since getting cleared by the NCAA following a Yahoo! Sports article on Friday that identified him as one of many players who may have received improper benefits.

Winston and Nick Ward, who had 14 points, picked up the scoring slack. Winston’s 3 with 4:45 left gave the Spartans a 58-51 lead, a huge cushion in what had been a tight game.

No. 9 Purdue 84, Minnesota 60: Dakota Mathias matched his career high with 25 points and left to a standing ovation in his final home game as No. 9 Purdue blew out Minnesota 84-60.

Carsen Edwards had 18 points for the Boilermakers (26-5, 15-3 Big Ten), who won their third straight after a three-game skid.

Minnesota (15-16, 4-14) was led by Nate Mason with 18 points and Jordan Murphy who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Golden Gophers have lost 10 of their last 11.

No. 11 Cincinnati 82, Tulsa 74: Gary Clark led a 24-4 run that put Cincinnati ahead to stay early in the second half, and the 11th-ranked Bearcats held on for an 82-74 victory over Tulsa that preserved their one-game lead in the American Athletic Conference heading into the final week.

Cincinnati (14-2, 25-4) stayed ahead of No. 13 Wichita State (13-3, 23-5) in the race for the regular-season title. The Shockers won on Cincinnati’s home court 76-72 a week ago.

Wichita State plays at UCF on Thursday and hosts Cincinnati next Sunday in a potential showdown game. The Bearcats play at Tulane on Thursday before heading to Wichita State.

No. 20 Nevada 92, Colorado State 83: Caleb Martin scored 25 points, Jordan Caroline had 21 points and 14 rebounds and No. 20 Nevada clinched the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West Tournament with a 92-83 victory over Colorado State.

No. 23 Houston 109, East Carolina 58: Rob Gray had 19 points and 11 assists, and No. 23 Houston used a huge first half en route to a 109-58 victory over East Carolina.

Armoni Brooks added 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range for the Cougars (12-4 American, 22-6), who shot 67 percent from the field. Corey Davis Jr. chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Houston had runs of 22-0 and 11-0, then closed the half on a 14-1 run to build a 62-13 lead. The Cougars were 23 of 31 from the floor in the half, including 12 of 16 from behind the arc. Houston started 13 of 15 from the field, including 7 of 8 on 3-pointers and hit 10 straight field goals at one point.

N.C. State 92, No. 25 Florida State 72: Allerik Freeman scored 25 points to help North Carolina State beat No. 25 Florida State 92-72.

Torin Dorn added 19 points and Sam Hunt had 14 for the Wolfpack (10-6 ACC, 20-9), who opened the game with a 9-2 spurt and never trailed.

N.C. State won its fourth consecutive ACC regular season game in the same season for the first time since 2006.