Indianapolis, IN -- (Sports Network) - Reserves Chris Allen and Marquise Gray stepped up with 17 and 11 points, respectively, to lead No. 7 Michigan State past the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 64-56, in quarterfinal play of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Kalin Lucas, this season's Big Ten Player of the Year, finished with 12 points, and Goran Suton posted nine points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State (26-5), which has rattled off nine wins in its last 10 games to stake a claim at one of the top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

"It wasn't pretty," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. "I think you have to give a lot of credit, we played a team that played their heart out and unfortunately for us beat us at our own game the first half. They out- rebounded us. Got every hustle point, every loose ball."

The Spartans will next take on Ohio State in the semifinals of the tourney on Saturday.

Damian Johnson paced eighth-seeded Minnesota (22-10) with 19 points, while Devron Bostick chipped in with 12. Lawrence Westbrook was held to 10 points for the Gophers, who finished their campaign with seven losses in their final 11 games and might be on the outside looking in when the NCAA Tournament bids are announced on Sunday.

The Spartans, who won their 11th regular season Big Ten title this year, hammered Minnesota in the two regular season meetings by a combined 41 points but never truly pulled away on Friday.

"They really took it to us in that second half," said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. "I thought our kids gave an excellent account of themselves and played extremely hard. We had some breakdowns there in the second half, but I thought overall we had a good game plan and our kids stuck to it for the most part."

The Gophers were as close as 38-36 early in the second half but went nearly five minutes without netting a bucket. The Spartans struggled offensively themselves, but Raymar Morgan's layup capped an 8-0 run that provided a ten- point lead with just under 12 minutes left.

Bostick and Johnson cut into the deficit with consecutive baskets, but another field goal drought spanning five-plus minutes for Minnesota was too much to overcome.

Draymond Green's alley-oop pass to Travis Walton was thrown down at the five- minute mark for a 54-43 margin.

Several Michigan State turnovers in the waning minutes gave the Gophers a fleeting chance, as Johnson's layup with 1:23 to play made it a 58-53 game.

It was as close as the underdogs got, however, as the Spartans hit 6-of-8 free throws from that point on to clinch a bid to the semis.

MSU's bench carried the club in the first half with 25 points while three Spartan starters battled foul trouble. Lucas' putback off his own miss just before the halftime buzzer gave the Spartans a 33-30 edge at the break.

Game Notes:

Michigan State took a 57-56 lead in the all-time series with the win...Morgan ended with just four points for the Spartans, who made just 19-of-31 free throws. Minnesota was even worse at the line, sinking a woeful 13-of-27 tries...Michigan State's bench outscored their counterparts 34-22.