This wasn’t the way Northwestern wanted to start the New Year.
No. 8 Michigan State used a 21-2 first-half run to blow open the game early and went on to lay a 81-55 whipping on the uncharacteristically hapless Wildcats.
The Spartans held a 52-32 lead at the half and pushed their edge to as many as 32 in the second half before coasting to the finish in extended garbage time. They scored 52 points in the paint and dominated the glass with a 48-25 rebounding edge.
Playing the Spartans at the Breslin Center is always a difficult proposition, but when they play like they did on Wednesday night you can pretty much forget about any chance of pulling off an upset.
Nick Ward was the sparkplug for Michigan State, scoring all of his game-high 21 points in a dominant first half, while fellow big Xavier Tillman came off the bench to add 14. A total of five Spartans scored in double figures and Cassius Winston dished out a game-high 12 assists.
Dererk Pardon was the lone Wildcat in double digits, with 19, while Barret Benson came off the bench to lead the team with 7 rebounds. Leading scorer Vic Law, who came into the game averaging 18.9 points per game, scored just 5 points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Here are our three pointers on a loss that drops Northwestern to 9-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten:
The Spartans put on a clinic in the first half: Michigan State played just about perfect basketball during the first 20 minutes.
Ward had a monster half, with 21 points and five rebounds, and he and Tillman, who went 4-for-4 and scored 10 points, wreaked havoc on Northwestern’s interior defense. MSU got the ball inside for layups and short jumpers throughout the half and wound up with 33 points in the paint and 70-percent shooting. Oh, and they had a 22-9 rebounding advantage, too.
On top of all that, Northwestern got into foul trouble, as Law, Pardon and A.J. Turner collected three fouls apiece by the end of the half and had to sit for extended stretches. The Wildcats collected 12 fouls in the half as MSU shot 12 free throws (making seven). Northwestern didn’t shoot one.
After the explosive first half, the second devolved into sloppy basketball on both sides. An indicator: the score stood at 72-42 for over four minutes as neither team could find the basket.
Bright spots were few and far between for NU: There weren’t many reasons for optimism for the Wildcats, who had their worst game of the season.
With Law having an off night, Pardon shone the brightest. The big man finished with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He consistently posted up Spartan big men on the block and was able to convert his patented hooks in the lane.
Despite Ward’s and Tillman’s dominance in the paint in the first half, Pardon’s defense wasn’t that bad, either – though he did get into foul trouble, making matters worse on the front line for the Wildcats. He finished the game with four fouls.
Other positives included Benson, who had 7 points and 7 rebounds. Turner got off to a strong start, with six early points, taking advantage of a 7-inch height advantage on Winston before foul trouble limited his time and effectiveness.
Aaron Falzon got extended playing time in the second half as he rounds back into shape after missing most of the first 13 games of the season.
That was about it, as Northwestern shot just 34.4 percent from the floor and a woeful 16.7 from beyond the arc, while Michigan State shot 58.6 and 41.7 percent, respectively.
Sunday’s game against Illinois is a must-win: Northwestern is in a big hole at 0-3 in the conference, but it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.
This team is far better than it showed on Wednesday night. The Wildcats’ first two Big Ten losses were by two points each – on the road at Indiana, and at home against a Michigan team now ranked second in the country. Just before Christmas, they took Oklahoma to overtime before falling in Evanston. So this is a team that can compete with upper-echelon teams.
That said, Sunday’s home matchup with arch-rival Illinois is as close to a must-win as the Wildcats can have in early January. Northwestern can’t afford to drop to 0-4, especially against a struggling rival like the Illini (4-9, 0-2 Big Ten). They need a confidence booster, and the Wildcats’ two games after that are against No. 25 Iowa and the aforementioned No. 2 Wolverines. Lose to Illinois, and NU could be staring at an 0-6 start in conference play.
