No. 8 Michigan State extended its winning streak to 12 games and improved to 8-0 in Big Ten play with an 81-74 win over Rutgers inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans' tied Duke for the longest active winning streak in the sport with the win and guaranteed it would reach two months since its last loss on the season.

Despite Harper being out of the starting lineup and center Emmanuel Ogbole done for the season due to a knee injury, Rutgers started strong by scoring 10 straight early. Michigan State countered with a 16-1 run to take a double-digit lead as the Scarlet Knights missed 11 straight shots.