Brandon Paul led the way with 20 points and Demetri McCamey added 15 points and 11 assists as No. 22 Illinois held off No. 18 Michigan State 71-62 on Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.

Mike Davis chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Illini (14-5, 4-2 Big Ten), who snapped a two-game slide and now turn their attention to a date with No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday.

Illinois came out strong in the first half, shooting 61.5 percent (16 of 26) from the floor and getting 17 points, including three 3-pointers, from Paul en route to a 41-37 edge at the break. The Spartans trailed by eight points with three minutes left in the half but held the Illini scoreless to cut the deficit in half at the break.

Illinois did not let Michigan State back on top, stretching the lead to 53-43 when Paul hit another 3-pointer at the 13:13 mark. The Spartans drew as close as 59-57 on Delvon Roe’s layup with just under nine minutes left but were held scoreless over the next four minutes.

Kalin Lucas scored 15 points for Michigan State (12-6, 4-2), which heads to No. 13 Purdue this weekend.