Unranked Michigan State beats No. 2 Michigan in regular season finale

March 8 (UPI) -- Unranked Michigan State boosted its men's basketball tournament resume with an upset victory over chief rival and No. 2 Michigan in its final game of the regular season.

Rocket Watts scored a game-high 21 points off the Spartans bench in the 70-64 win Sunday in East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans have won five of their last seven games, despite a tough schedule down the stretch -- which included resume-boosting victories over No. 4 Illinois and No. 10 Ohio State.

"I'm proud of my team," Spartans coach Tom Izzo told reporters. "I'm happy for our program, happy for our former players, happy for everybody.

"I'm happy for me that I'll go home and get some rest, and then see if we can move on and get ready for the Big Ten tournament."

The Spartans built a 5-point lead midway through the first half, but the Wolverines rallied to steal the lead before Watts managed to keep the Spartans ahead 30-26 at halftime.

Michigan State then pushed its lead to 10 points midway though the second half. Michigan's Hunter Dickinson made a layup and a free throw with 1:12 remaining to cut the lead to 61-59.

Spartans guard Joshua Langford hit a clutch 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to push the lead back to 5 points. Gabe Brown and Aaron Henry made six free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Henry had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for the Spartans. Senior guard Chaundee Brown led the Wolverines with 13 points off the bench. Dickinson had 12 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

"Words can't explain of how proud I am of [Watts]," Langford told reporters. "I am with him every day. I've seen the work that he has put in.

"I've had the conversations with him and just how he wants to do so well for this team and for him to have a breakout night of this nature, it's just exciting."

The Spartans (15-11, 9-11 Big Ten) next face Maryland in the Big Ten tournament at 11:30 a.m. EST Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The winner will advance to play the Wolverines (19-3, 14-3) on Friday.