Spartans Run Away From Wolverines

When Michigan State met at halftime, the Spartans talked about putting away Michigan in the first five minutes of the second half.

The No. 15 Spartans scored the first eight points of the second half before coasting to a 64-53 victory over the Wolverines on Thursday night at East Lansing.

The Spartans, 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten, have won 11 of their last 12, and 11 of 12 against Michigan (12-8, 3-3).

Michigan State didn’t lead until midway through the first half and led by only six points at halftime. Keyed by their defense, the Spartans built a 52-35 lead midway through the second half.

“Their pressure and depth really wore us down,” Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker said.

“I thought the difference was the start of the second half. We got out very slowly, and they got a double-digit lead and really put us on our heels.”

Michigan played without standout point guard Daniel Horton, who was suspended indefinitely after being charged with domestic violence on Monday. Without him, the Wolverines committed 23 turnovers against the Spartans’ pressure defense.

No. 21 Cincinnati 74, South Florida 48 -- The Bearcats (16-3, 5-1 Conference USA) broke the game open with a 24-5 run that gave them a 22-point lead.

The closest the Bulls (8-9, 1-5) got after that at Tampa, Fla., was 14 points with 8:25 left.

The Bearcats improved to 14-0 against South Florida under Coach Bob Huggins, a streak that began in December 1991.

OTHER GAMES

St. Mary’s (18-5, 5-1) took sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference with a 79-69 victory over San Diego (10-9, 2-4) at Moraga. The Toreros made only two baskets in the final eight minutes. The Gaels were tied with Santa Clara, which lost to San Francisco, 62-60. Alan Wiggins’ 15-foot baseline jumper with six-tenths of a second left lifted USF (13-6, 4-2) over the Broncos (11-10, 4-2) at Santa Clara. The Dons ended the Broncos’ four-game winning streak.

Virginia Tech (11-6, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) started the second half with a 23-10 run and held on for a 79-73 victory over Virginia (10-7, 1-6) in the schools’ first conference meeting in 68 years. The game was their 119th, but first as conference rivals since both were in the Southern Conference in 1936-37. ... Texas El Paso (17-3, 7-1) moved into a tie for first place with Nevada in the Western Athletic Conference with a 60-55 victory over Southern Methodist (8-8, 3-5) at Dallas.