Northwestern
Michigan State
Wildcats Fall To No. 10 Michigan State, 77-66
1/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2009
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern used 12 first-half points by Kevin Coble to claim a 33-32 lead at the break, but 10th-ranked Michigan State raced out of the halftime gates with a 12-0 run and went on to defeat NU, 77-66, at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday night. Coble finished with 17 points while senior Craig Moore chipped in 16, including four 3-pointers.
Moore, the school's all-time leader in made 3-pointers, surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his career with a shot from downtown with 2:58 remaining in the first half.
With the loss, Northwestern moves to 8-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, while the Spartans improve to 11-2 and have won their first two conference games, both on the road.
It was a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes with NU receiving baskets from five different players in the first 20 minutes. After a lay-up by Luka Mirkovic brought the 'Cats to within one at 18-17 with just over 10 minutes on the clock, MSU rallied thanks to three baskets by Raymar Morgan, including a baseline jumper that gave the Spartans a 26-19 lead.
But Northwestern responded by erupting for five of the next six baskets in the game. Coble connected on a three and point guard Michael Thompson got in the lane for a lay-up to close the gap to two points. After a Delvon Roe dunk for Michigan State, Coble scored twice in the paint before a 3-pointer at the top of the key by Moore gave the Wildcats a 31-28 advantage.
"I didn't think either team stopped the other in the first half," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. "Both teams got some pretty good looks and knocked down their shots."
Michigan State began its second-half spurt with a jumper by point guard Kalin Lucas and an alley-oop to Morgan, followed by a long-range make by Chris Allen to up the Spartans' lead to 39-33.
MSU kept up the pressure before a lay-up by Mirkovic at the 14:25 mark finally put Northwestern on the board in the second half. Consecutive threes by Moore sliced the Spartan lead to five at 51-46, but both teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and NU was unable to come any closer.
"Give Michigan State credit. It's a good team and in the second half, they really went at it in the first five minutes," said Carmody.
Morgan was efficient both scoring and rebounding the ball, finishing with game-highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds. For the game, the Spartans notched a 47-28 advantage on the glass, including 19 on the offensive end.
This week, the Wildcats head north to take on Wisconsin in Madison at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
