Northwestern's Nine-Game Win Streak Snapped at Michigan State

12/30/2016 7:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Northwestern battled back from a big first-half deficit but couldn't quite make it all the way back and the Wildcats had their nine-game winning streak snapped in a 61-52 loss to Michigan State Friday evening at Breslin Center.

Vic Law paced NU (12-3, 1-1 B1G) with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Northwestern returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday, Jan. 5 when it opens the home portion of its Big Ten season against Minnesota at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at NUSports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.

The Spartans (10-5, 2-0 B1G) got out of the gates quickly, scoring on each of their first four possessions in jumping out to a 9-2 lead and forcing NU to burn a timeout. The deficit grew to 11-3 before Nathan Taphorn connected on a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats back within five.

Uncharacteristic turnovers and cold shooting plagued Northwestern as Michigan State used a 12-0 run to push its lead to 15, 23-6, with under nine minutes remaining in the half.

Northwestern finally got things going on the offensive end as Scottie Lindsey hit a pair of triples and Vic Law hit another, sparking an 11-3 run that cut a 19-point deficit to 28-17.

Taphorn's second trey of the stanza and a bucket by Law got NU back to within single digits at 33-24 with just over two minutes left in the half. Bryant McIntosh's basket just before the first-half buzzer got Northwestern within 36-29 at the break as the Wildcats trimmed 12 points off Michigan State's largest lead.

Law paced NU with 10 first-half points while Lindsey chipped in with 9 and Taphorn added 8. The 'Cats connected on only two of their first 13 field goal attempts but settled in to make nine of their final 12 shots.

Northwestern picked up in the second half where it left in the first as Sanjay Lumpkin drilled a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats within four. Michigan State twice pushed its advantage back up to nine, but NU continued to battle back.

Within striking distance and Northwestern trailing 48-44, both teams went into a prolonged offensive drought. The Spartans eventually scored five straight points to go up by nine once again, but two free throws by Lindsey finally got NU back on the scoreboard.

However, the Wildcats weren't quite able to make it all the way back.

Northwestern Notes at Michigan State
Dec. 30, 2016
• The loss snaps Northwestern's nine-game winning streak. The Wildcats were seeking a double-figure winning streak for the second straight season and third time in school history
• The loss also ends Northwestern streak of 19 straight wins in the month of December dating back to 2014.
• Bryant McIntosh recorded five assists in the game to push his career total to 447. He is five assists shy of current Northwestern assistant coach Pat Baldwin for second place in school history.
• Sanjay Lumpkin started the 105^th game of his career Friday, tying him with Shawn Watts (1984-87) and Andre Goode (1982-85) for 10^th place in Northwestern history.
• With 7 points Friday, Bryant McIntosh now has 983 career points. He needs 17 points to become the 34^th Wildcat all-time to score 1,000 career points.