Spartans still alive for share of Big Ten

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Keith Appling bounced back in time to give No. 10 Michigan State a chance to share the Big Ten regular-season title.

Appling scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half to help the Spartans beat No. 22 Wisconsin 58-43 on Thursday and stay in the race for a piece of the conference championship.

“The only sad part for me is we had a chance to have destiny in our hands,” coach Tom Izzo said after Michigan State snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Spartans (23-7, 12-5) moved into a three-way tie for second with Michigan and Ohio State. The trio trails conference-leading Indiana with one game left.

The Hoosiers can win the Big Ten outright by beating Michigan on Sunday in Ann Arbor. If they lose, the Wolverines would earn a piece of the title, and the Spartans and Buckeyes would have an opportunity to make it a four-way tie.

The Spartans close the regular season Sunday at home against Northwestern after Ohio State hosts Illinois and the Wolverines play Indiana.

Izzo said his mentor, former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote, wouldn’t want him to root for rival Michigan to win in any circumstance.

“I’m going to pull for Michigan State,” Izzo said.

The Badgers (20-10, 11-6) shot 29.4 percent while falling to fifth place. Coach Bo Ryan, though, insisted he wasn’t disappointed his team missed out on a chance to play for part of the championship.

“With this team and what they’ve done, I’m not trading them,” Ryan said.

Michigan State broke open a close game with a 16-0 run early in the second half, taking a 21-point lead on Appling’s three-point play. The junior point guard had been held to single digits in each of the last three games, but scored more points against the Badgers than in the previous three games combined.

Wisconsin didn’t have a scorer in double digits until Ben Brust made two free throws with 1:22 left to reach 10 points.

■ Colorado 76, No. 19 Oregon 53 — At Boulder, Colo., Xavier Johnson had a career-high 22 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 17, and the Buffaloes (20-9, 10-7 Pac-12) kept the Ducks (23-7, 12-5) from gaining a share of the conference title.

Colorado won without the nation’s leading rebounder, junior forward Andre Roberson, who sat out with a viral illness. He’s averaging 11.5 rebounds.

Oregon dropped into a first-place tie with UCLA, but holds the tiebreaker over the Bruins. The Ducks can wrap up at least a share of their first league title since 2002, and the No. 1 seed for the Pac-12 tournament at the MGM Grand Garden, with a win at Utah on Saturday.