Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
Wildcats Fall To Spartans, 68-55
3/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS -- First-team all-Big Ten guard Jitim Young scored a game-high 24 points, but it was not enough to overcome a tremendous shooting performance by the Michigan State Spartans, who ended Northwestern's season 68-55 Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Led by Chris Hill's 17 points and Maurice Ager's 14, four players finished in double figures for the third-seeded Spartans. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Paul Davis had 10.
Young's 24 points came on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-15 shooting from the free throw line. A win over the Spartans would have made the 'Cats eligible for the NIT.
Young also added three steals, giving him 11 for the two tournament games. Northwestern finished with nine steals, and 31 for the tourney, one shy of the tournament record which was set by Penn State in three games.
Michigan State advances to Saturday's semifinal round against No. 10 Wisconsin, the second seed in the tournament. The Badgers won both regular-season meetings, including a 68-64 victory in East Lansing, Mich., that -- had Michigan State won -- would have given the Spartans a share of the Big Ten title.
Playing in their first game in 10 days, the Spartans appeared well rested.
Michigan State shot 62 percent from the field and hovered above the tournament record of 64 percent -- set by Purdue against Minnesota in 2001 -- until late in the second half. The Spartans were 8-of-14 from three-point range and led by as many as 20 midway through the second half.
Sixth-seeded Northwestern appeared up to the challenge in the early going, shooting 57.1 percent to stay within 12-10 after five minutes of play, but cooled to just 39 percent for the game.
Sophomore Vedran Vukusic was the only other Wildcat to reach double figures, scoring 15 points. T.J. Parker added seven points and four assists. Mohamed Hachad, who went 0-for-6 from the field, finished with two points and a game-high four steals.
The Wildcats still closed the regular season with eight conference victories for the first time since 1968.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
