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CHAMAPIGN, Ill. -- Coming to Illinois on Saturday, a long list of milestones were on the line for Michigan State. Best start in team history. A chance for Tom Izzo to move up the ladder of Big Ten coaching wins. And, oh yeah, the top spot in the conference standings to protect. The Spartans (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten) checked off all those boxes, holding off Illinois in a sometimes frustrating, physical contest, 78-62. Izzo, who moved past Illinois Lou Henson and into the No. 4 spot on the list of all-time Big Ten wins with 215, called the victory a sign of progress. "Were getting there," he said. "Were gutting things out. Were better defensively than we were a month ago, were better rebounding than we were a month ago." No Spartans team before this one started with 17 wins in its first 18 games. The shot at that served as motivation, said Denzel Valentine, who had a game-high 11 rebounds and 15 points. "We kept saying, Lets make history," he said. While Michigan State won its 10th straight, Illinois (13-6, 2-4) has now lost four in a row. The frustration was apparent during several loud exchanges between coach John Groce and officials. The last one earned him a technical foul. But Groce said Michigan State was just better. "Todays issue wasnt fight; todays issue was we ran into a really, really good basketball team," he said. Izzo said he talked with Henson, who was at the State Farm Center, before the game, but downplayed moving into the No. 4 spot. Bob Knight holds the No. 1 spot with 353. "Its nice," Izzo said. "Im going to call Bob and make sure he realizes theres no worries. Nobodys catching him." Michigan State owned the boards early against the Illini, outrebounding them 24-10 over the first 20 minutes. The Spartans used that edge to open up a 10-point lead by halftime and held the Illini at arms length the rest of the night. Gary Harris had a game-high 23 points and Keith Appling added 15 for the Spartans. Tracy Abrams led Illinois with 15 points. Illinois closed to within six at 59-53 with 6:11 in the game on a pair of free throws by Abrams. But almost as quick as those shots sparked a little hope for Illinois, Appling snuffed it out with a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc. "For whatever reason, we fell down in the zone," Groce said. "Appling made a big shot." Michigan was up 62-53 with 5:43 to play, and with the Illini shooting a tepid 37.7 per cent and unable to drum up many second chances, Michigan was comfortably out front. The Spartans played without 6-10 centre Adreian Payne, out for a third consecutive game with an ankle injury. But against an Illinois team with little inside presence, they didnt seem to need him. "We learned to play without him," Harris said. "Some other guys stepped up. Were building a deeper team." Michigan State outrebounded Illinois 38-25. Valentine was at times dominant, particularly in the first half. He had nine rebounds by halftime and held Rice to 12 points. Rice entered as the conferences second-leading scorer, averaging 17.7 points a game. The Spartans also made the most of their shots, sinking 55.8 per cent of them. Illini big men Nnanna Egwu and Maverick Morgan had a combined five rebounds and four points. Egwu hasnt scored in his past two games in spite of starting both and playing 55 minutes. Groces frustration has been growing with the losing streak. After Wednesdays loss to Purdue he charged toward officials to complain about calls. Early in the first half Saturday night, he shouted across the court at his own team after a miss, "I didnt want that!" He then turned and slammed his fist into the scorers table in front of the Illinois radio crew. Late in the game, after several confrontations with officials, he threw his suit jacket and was called for a technical foul. Groce declined to discuss his exchanges with officials or their calls, but both he and Izzo said they believe there are problems with how rule changes designed to increase scoring are being called. "In my opinion, its completely different than maybe what I saw on the (NCAA) video that was sent to me in the fall," Groce said. "I think everybodys confused," Izzo added. "Its hard on everybody." Illinois has a tough road ahead with its next four at No. 11 Ohio State, at Indiana and then at home against No. 14 Iowa and No. 3 Wisconsin. The Spartans play their next two at home, Tuesday against Indiana and Jan. 25 against Michigan. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . American Lindsey Jacobellis was third, while Japans Yuka Fujimori finished just off the podium. Maltais, from Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., earned bronze at the 2006 Olympic Games and is set to return to the Games this February in Sochi, Russia. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 5th. The 34-year-old Laval, Que. native has played six seasons with the Penguins. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!) - There may be a debate in Philadelphia about who should be the starting quarterback of the Eagles. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . As analysts we do the same thing, so here are some observations from week one. First there were two major upsets. I should say, major upsets in the eyes of the fans and prognosticators. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . The light-heavyweight champion and number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world is on an 11-fight UFC winning streak, the longest in the history of the weight class.PITTSBURGH -- Their quarterback basically has a dislocated right index finger, their best remaining offensive lineman suffered a sprained right pectoral muscle and theyre 0-4. But the Pittsburgh Steelers remained a confident group Tuesday heading into a bye week. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit his right hand off a defensive linemans hand after a touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the fourth quarter during Sundays 34-27 loss to Minnesota, but he didnt expect the injury to be anything long-term. "The doc said it was a subluxation, whatever that is," Roethlisberger said Tuesday, as he only had tape on his right forefinger. "Yeah, it (hurt). It was kind of uncomfortable. It was pretty painful." Its a good bet that Roethlisberger wont do anything too strenuous this week, and neither will left offensive guard Ramon Foster. An MRI Monday revealed that Foster suffered a minor sprain of the right pectoral muscle during the first half. Foster isnt concerned about missing any time. Neither of those health issues, nor their worst start in 45 years, have deterred the Steelers. However, Roethlisberger still believed that as one of the NFLs four winless teams -- along with Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and the New York Giants -- the Steelers were among the leagues worst. "I was talking record-wise, and if Im not mistaken were one of the -- I dont know how many teams are winless, and Im a big believer in wins and losses and not numbers -- but I would say that record-wise, weree one of the worst teams in the NFL," Roethlisberger said.dddddddddddd. "I dont think thats a far stretch. "I take pride in winning football games, more than any numbers. So, thats what Ive based my career on so far, wins and losses. So, it definitely stings. (And) its painful to lose games, but Ill put that on myself." So, is there anything to feel good about during this bye week? "The people that we have in here, theyre good players," Roethlisberger said. "Obviously, were down, and were disappointed. It hurts, but I dont think our confidence is low." Maybe, but the Steelers find themselves in the unique position of playing second fiddle in their own city to the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were to make their first post-season appearance in 21 years on Tuesday night against Cincinnati. Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel, who has a pair of Super Bowl rings, advised the Pirates to "continue to do what youve been doing all year to get to this point. Dont change the team that you have. Dont change the way that youve been preparing. Just keep doing the things that youve done up to this point." Was that his message to his own teammates as well? "I dont know," Keisel said. "Were going to continue to work and find a way. Were going to continue to fight. When youre 0-4, youre always looking for things to try to figure out how to get a win. "And were going to continue to do that around here. ' ' '