Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Travel to No. 11 Michigan State Saturday
2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2008
NU Game Notes vs. Michigan State
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern's men's basketball team continues its tough stretch of games as it travels to No. 11 Michigan State on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Central time. The contest is the Wildcats' fourth against a ranked opponent in their last seven games.
The matchup is being televised by Big Ten Network with Mark Neely and Greg Kelser on the call. WGN Radio (720 AM) also will broadcast the game with Dave Eanet and Shon Morris.
Series History: Michigan State leads, 75-36. The Spartans have won the last 10 meetings.
Last Meeting: Craig Moore scored a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as Michigan State topped the Wildcats 78-62 on Jan. 24 in Evanston.
Last Time Out
Kevin Coble led Northwestern with 22 points and Michael Thompson and Craig Moore added 19 each, but it wasn't enough as Minnesota downed the Wildcats 92-72 Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Thompson also contributed seven assists without a turnover in 38 minutes of action. Spencer Tollackson shot 7-for-7 to score 19 points to pace the visitors. Jamal Abu-Shamala and Lawrence McKenzie had 16 points each and Blake Hoffarber added 15. NU held an 18-16 lead midway through the first half before Minnesota went on a 10-2 to go ahead 26-20. The Wildcats were within 34-31 with three minutes left in the opening half before the Golden Gophers closed the half with a late 13-2 run to take a 47-33 advantage into the break. Minnesota was able to build on its lead before Northwestern's defense helped get the Wildcats back in the game. Three Minnesota turnovers helped Northwestern go on an 8-0 run and chop the margin to 13 with 13 minutes left. However, that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.
A Statistical Anomaly
The Wildcats' loss to Minnesota on Wednesday was rare on a couple of levels. Northwestern shot 52.8 percent from the field in the contest. The Wildcats had won their 17 most recent games in which they had shot better than 50 percent. The last time NU had lost when shooting over 50 percent was Feb. 2, 2005 when it shot 51.2 percent in a 73-58 defeat at No. 19 Wisconsin. The Wildcats' 72 points scored against Minnesota was only the team's fourth loss in the 34 times under eighth-year head coach Bill Carmody that the squad has scored 70 points or more.
Scouting Michigan State
• The Spartans (19-3, 7-2) have been off since last Saturday when they suffered an 85-76 loss at Penn State. Kalin Lucas led Michigan State with 18 points and seven assists.
• MSU leads the Big Ten with a team field goal percentage of .488 and a +8.8 rebounding margin.
• Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan paces the Spartans with an average of 16.0 points per game. Goran Suton is tops in rebounding a 8.5 boards per contest.
• Michigan State is seeking its ninth 20-win season in the last 11 years.
Up Next...
Northwestern returns home to Welsh-Ryan Arena next Wednesday when it welcomes Ohio State for an 8 p.m. tip. Big Ten Network is televising the contest.
