Thursday night marked the only meeting of the season between the visiting Michigan State Spartans and the hometown Rutgers Scarlet Knights, in a game that was postponed from Tuesday due to the snowstorm that hit the East coast.

After the final buzzer, Rutgers was probably hoping that the game would have never been played. Michigan State entered the game as a nine-point favorite, and they took it to the Scarlet Knights on every possession.

Rutgers never led in the contest, and Michigan State cruised to a 71–51 road victory in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Within the first minute of the game, it was tied 2–2, thanks to a layup from Branden Dawson and a pair of free throws from Kadeem Jack. That was the last time that the game would be tied, and Michigan State would go to work.

Over the next seven or eight minutes, Michigan State slowly built their lead over the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers cut the deficit to four points with 9:43 to play, thanks to a pair of free throws from Junior Etou, but the Spartans pulled away.

A pair of three pointers from Denzel Valentine and Travis Trice highlighted an 11–0 run for the green and white, and the lead was up to 15 points in the blink of an eye.

Down the stretch in the first half, Rutgers got to within eight points on a couple of occasions, but Michigan State held onto the lead.

After a strong half, the Michigan State Spartans held a 42–34 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half started in the worst possible way for the Scarlet Knights. Bishop Daniels recorded a jumper for Rutgers to cut the lead, but then the team went ice cold from the field.

Michigan State went on an 18–0 run to stretch their lead to 26 points at 62–36. The Spartans used a balanced scoring attack to extend their lead, as Bryn Forbes, Denzel Valentine, Branden Dawson, Travis Trice, Matt Costello, and Lourawls Nairn all recorded points in the lengthy run.

Rutgers went just under 10 minutes without scoring a basket before Kadeem Jack recorded a layup to end their scoring drought. The Scarlet Knights cut the lead down to 16 points, but the outcome of the game was never in question.

Michigan State led from start to finish and used a big second half push to pull away from Rutgers to score a much-needed conference win to stay in the hunt in the Big Ten.

Leading the way for Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans was senior forward Branden Dawson. Dawson recorded his fifth double-double in Big Ten action, recording 17 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes of floor time. Bryn Forbes scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Spartans to victory.

Freshman guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. had his best game of the season off the bench for the Spartans on Thursday. In 16 minutes of floor time, Nairn recorded eight points and two rebounds, while only committing two turnovers. He showed some flashes of strong play, highlighted by a couple drives through the lane for some acrobatic layups in amongst the trees of Rutgers.

For the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, forward Kadeem Jack was the only Scarlet Knight to score in double-figures. Jack recorded a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Center Greg Lewis found himself in foul trouble early in the first half and failed to record a point in just 11 minutes of action.

The win was a much-needed one for the Michigan State Spartans (14–7, 5–3), as they stay in contention in the crowded Big Ten conference. The win is a big confidence booster for the team as they head into the most important matchup for any Spartan fan. On Sunday, the Michigan State Spartans welcome their in-state rival Michigan Wolverines to the Breslin Center.

For the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10–12, 2–7), the growing pains in their first season in the Big Ten conference continue. The loss to the Michigan State Spartans marked their fifth straight defeat following their upset win over the Wisconsin Badgers. The road doesn’t get any easier for the program, as they head to Assembly Hall to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday.