Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host 10th-Ranked Michigan State Thursday
1/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2008
NU Game Notes vs. Michigan State 
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern's search for its first Big Ten win of the season doesn't get any easier this Thursday as 10th-ranked Michigan State comes to Evanston to take on the Wildcats. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ESPN2 is providing live television coverage with Terry Gannon and Stephen Bardo on the call.
The contest can also be heard on WGN Radio (720 AM) with Dave Eanet and David Kaplan.
Series History: Michigan State leads, 74-36. The Spartans have won the last nine meetings with Northwestern's last win coming Feb. 6, 2002 in Evanston by a score of 61-49.
Last Meeting: Seventh-seeded Michigan State held off the 10th-seeded Wildcats 62-57 in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament March 8, 2007 in Chicago. Drew Neitzel led MSU with a game-high 20 points.
Last Time Out
Northwestern hung tight with 17th-ranked Wisconsin throughout, but an early second-half run by the Badgers proved to be the difference in their 62-50 victory Saturday evening at the Kohl Center. Michael Thompson scored a team-high 16 points and handed out five assists for the Wildcats. Marcus Landry posted a game-best 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free throw line for Wisconsin. Northwestern controlled the tempo throughout the first half and found itself down by only two at 22-20 at the break. The difference in the game proved to be the opening seven minutes of the second half as Wisconsin come out of the intermission with a 13-2 run to stretch its lead to 35-22. The Wildcats back to within eight on a 3-pointer by Sterling Williams with 8:28 to go. NU continued to hang tight throughout the remainder of the contest but was unable to make a run to push it over the top. Wisconsin finished the contest with 24 made free throws in 37 attempts compared to 10 of 13 for Northwestern, which was guilty of 30 fouls to only 16 for the Badgers.
Get to the Point
Thursday's matchup features two of the top point guards in the Big Ten in the senior Drew Neitzel of Michigan State and Wildcat freshman Michael Thompson. Neitzel leads the conference with a 3.65 assist-to-turnover ratio and is fourth with an average of 4.7 assists per game. Thompson ranks second with a norm of 5.1 assists per contest and is first with an average of 36.3 minutes played. Neitzel averages 13.5 points per game, while Thompson is close behind at 13.0.
To the Extreme
Wisconsin's 35 field goal attempts in its win Saturday over the Wildcats rank as a tie for the fewest by an NU opponent in Bill Carmody's eight seasons as head coach. The mark matched Arkansas-Little Rock's total against Northwestern Nov. 19, 2000. However, the Badgers also set a new standard in the Carmody era with their 37 free throw attempts in the game. The previous best by a Wildcats foe was 36 by Michigan State Jan. 10, 2007. NU's 30 fouls in the contest were the most during Carmody's tenure.
Up Next...
The Wildcats make the short trip south to take on Illinois at 7 p.m. Sunday at Assembly Hall. Big Ten Network is televising the contest.
