EAST LANSING, Mich. – With Dee Brown in foul trouble and James Augustine sidelined by injury, No. 10 Illinois needed big games from its less-trumpeted players to secure a 75-68 win against Michigan State on Saturday.

While Brown held the lead on Illinois’ scoring attack and Augustine collected the team-high in rebounding, Illinois had five players scoring in double figures.

“Our bench did a great job,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “Warren got us going when James got hurt, Chester, Jamar, Marcus Arnold all held their own.”

Michigan State jumped to a 7-2 lead early in the game, and it looked like Illinois might have trouble battling the Spartans’ Senior Night adrenaline rush. But Warren Carter hit a pair of free throws and Brian Randle made a layup which Carter followed with another, putting Illinois up by a point just a minute and a half after the Spartans had built their lead to 5.

“Warren can score. It’s been tough on him, really his whole career,” Weber said. “He’s wanted things to be more productive for himself. He’s stayed focused, he’s stayed patient.”

Control traded hands throughout the game, as the score was tied eight times and the lead changed 13 times before regulation ended.

“I thought we came out very lethargic at the start of the second half,” Weber said. “We were scoring but they were scoring back and forth.”

But while the Spartans held a 4-point lead with 3:08 gone in the second half, Brown sunk a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to put Illinois up for good with 16:01 to play.

While Michigan State continued to try to chip away at Illinois’ lead, it never happened, as Illinois held on to a 12-point advantage with 6:34 left. The Spartans fouled frantically in an effort to stop the clock and tighten the margin, but ultimately gave up when Illinois held on to a 9-point lead with less than a minute to play.

Now both teams have almost a week to rest before the start of the Big Ten tournament Thursday. It will be much needed for the Spartans, who say the turnaround from playing Wisconsin on Thursday night to facing Illinois on Saturday morning was more than they could handle.

But even Illinois will be able to benefit, as the Illini work towards a goal they’ve repeated throughout the last four months: peaking at the right time.

“We said we had to play hard against Minnesota and Michigan State. The level of intensity we experienced against these two teams is going to be the level of intensity in the tournament,” Brown said. “Now that we’re in the postseason, that’s how we’re going to play.”