The Spartans played lockdown defense and got a huge day from their bench to beat Rutgers at Madison Square Garden.

NEW YORK. (WILX) - No. 8 Michigan State men’s basketball just continues to roll with the Spartans’ 12 straight victory with an 81-74 win over Rutgers on Saturday afternoon. MSU now improves to 8-0 in conference play and remain at the top of the Big Ten standings.

Columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on MSU's win Saturday over Rutgers at Madison Square Garden with three quick takes.

Junior forwards Isaac Howard and Daniel Russell scored in the shootout to give MSU the extra point in the Big Ten standings after tying in regulation.

Coming off an impressive 9-3 win over Minnesota on Friday, Michigan State’s hockey team knew Saturday’s series finale would be a battle. It was

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.