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Michigan State Basketball: Ranking the 5 best moments of 2020

By Connor Muldowney

From left, Michigan State's Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman and Gabe Brown pose with the Big Ten Championship trophy after beating Ohio State on Sunday, March 8, 2020, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The Spartans won a share of the title with Maryland and Wisconsin.200308 Msu Osu 329a
From left, Michigan State's Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman and Gabe Brown pose with the Big Ten Championship trophy after beating Ohio State on Sunday, March 8, 2020, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The Spartans won a share of the title with Maryland and Wisconsin.200308 Msu Osu 329a /
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4. Xavier Tillman put-back dunk to beat Illinois

I had a tough time choosing between the Xavier Tillman put-back dunk to beat Illinois and the Cassius Winston half-court shot to at the buzzer to extend a halftime lead to 11 over No. 9 Maryland on the road. I had to go with the win that sparked a turnaround.

Before the Illinois game, Michigan State had a growing problem of starting games slow and falling behind and having to play catch-up for 30-35 minutes.

Michigan State raced out to a big lead over the Illini and it looked like the Spartans were going to run away with a big road win over a ranked foe but Illinois chipped away at the lead and took a one-point advantage into the final seconds.

Cassius Winston had the ball at the top of the arc and dribbled around for a few seconds before breaking to the hoop. His would-be go-ahead basket attempt bounced off the backboard and into the waiting arms of a leaping Tillman who reached back a little and slammed it in. It was a huge moment for the Spartans as this changed the outlook of what was headed towards a disappointing season.

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