EAST LANSING, MI. -- Rutgers battled and led early, but a big second half scoring burst propelled No. 10/11 Michigan State to a 71-60 win over the Scarlet Knights at the Breslin Center on Wednesday night.

A 29-6 run in the second half for Michigan State erased Rutgers’ 11-point, 36-25 lead.

With the loss, the Scarlet Knights dropped to 12-14 overall and 5-11 in Big Ten play. Rutgers was searching for its sixth conference win, which would have doubled the most intra-conference wins they achieved in 2016-17 and 2017-18 (three each) since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Michigan State is now 8-0 all-time versus Rutgers, which missed out on a prime opportunity to record its highest-ranked road win over a depleted Spartans missing two of their three best players.

Check out more on the game below...

THE BAD: Free throws have been a problem all season long for Rutgers and that was much of the same on Wednesday. Rutgers wasn’t able to cash in from the foul line, which is something that needs happen against the upper-echelon teams. At this point, one would think it is all mental and no so much skill, depending on the player. Rutgers shot 9-for-17 for the game and 2-for-5 in the first half. Meanwhile, Michigan State was a whopping 18-of-20.

Rutgers, normally one of the better rebounding teams in the country because of its toughness and size, was out-rebounded by Michigan State by a wide margin, 45-31. The Scarlet Knights allowed plenty of offensive rebounds (14) as well which turned into second chance points.

Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston was a problem all night and made Rutgers pay, especially on ball screens. He finished with a game-high 28 points with eight assists and five rebounds.

Once Michigan State sparked the crowd and took the lead for good, Rutgers went cold, going scoreless over a stretch of over two minutes and hitting 1-of-11 shots. It went 5-for-20 on 3-point attempts as well.

THE GOOD: Despite playing in a hostile environment on the road, Rutgers committed just five turnovers in the first half. That ballooned up to 11, but give credit, it held on to the ball relatively well.

While the Spartans had control of the glass, the Scarlet Knights scored more than half of their points in the paint with 32.

The Scarlet Knights kept the home fans quiet in the first half. Geo Baker scored 13 points in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting. The sophomore netted XX points for the game. In the opening 20 minutes, after Michigan State went up 15-14, the Scarlet Knights went on a 21-5 run to take a 30-20 lead. They led by seven at the break, 32-25.

GAME BALL: Geo Baker led Rutgers with 17 points, including 13 in the first half.

UP NEXT: Rutgers return to the Rutgers Athletic Center to play Minnesota on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m.

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.