The game slipped away yet again.
Northwestern (8-7, 0-4 B1G) will leave East Lansing still searching for its first Big Ten win.
The ’Cats let the game slip away as No. 12 Michigan State (14-2, 4-1 B1G) rode a big second half to grab a 76-66 win in East Lansing. Despite a seven point lead at halftime, the ‘Cats were out-rebounded, outmatched and outclassed after the break as the late game struggles continued to rear their ugly head.
Nick Martinelli led the Wildcats with 28 points. True freshman Tyler Kropp was second on the team with a career-high nine points, with all nine coming in the first half. Jayden Reid scored eight points, dished out eight assists and had four steals.
For the Spartans, Carson Cooper had 18 points to lead his team, along with a team-high nine rebounds. Jaxon Kohler wasn’t far behind with 15 points of his own, while also pulling in eight rebounds. After a scoreless first half, Jeremy Fears Jr. came alive after the break, scoring 15 points while dishing out five assists.
Kohler made one from deep to open the scoring, and Martinelli answered for the ‘Cats on the ensuing possession with a step back trey of his own. Arrinten Page subbed in early for Tre Singleton with the score 8-6 in favor of the Spartans. Martinelli then tied the game at 8-8. With 15:53 to go in the first quarter, a Page foul led to the first media timeout.
After a Michigan State travel, Fears was called for his second foul, forcing Spartans coach Tom Izzo to take him out of the game. Reid made his second bucket of the game to give NU its first lead of the game (10-8). Northwestern coach Chris Collins utilized the bench early as 10 players had been in the game for the Wildcats with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
After two layups from Cooper put the Spartans in front, true freshman Kropp caught fire. The Argentina native set a new career-high of seven points in just eight minutes of game action, capping his heat check with a three to give Northwestern a 17-13 lead at the second media timeout.
Out of the break, MSU went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead. Martinelli then responded to give NU the lead back before Max Green drilled a transition three to extend the lead back to four. With the game at 22-19 after a made free throw, Page picked up his third foul on a made three from Jordan Scott, and Scott completed the four-point-play.. Singleton on the other end reeled in an impressive offensive rebound before making a close shot to retake the lead. With seven lead changes already, NU led 24-23 at the third media break.
Cam Ward made a close shot to get the lead back for MSU out of the timeout. After the Spartans extended their lead to four, Martinelli made consecutive floaters to tie the game up at 28-28. Angelo Ciaravino made a corner three off a pretty assist from Jake West to give NU a three point lead. With 3:13 to go, the ‘Cats led 31-28.
After the media timeout, Kropp made another basket to get up to nine points. Reid ended the half on a high note with a steal-and-score to cap off an 11-0 run for NU to go up 35-28 at the break. Michigan State failed to score in the final 5:06 of the first half. The Spartans faced their largest half-time deficit of the season. It was all ‘Cats through one.
Martinelli led NU with 11 points in the first half. Kropp was right behind with nine points. Green and Reid each had two steals, with the latter scoring six points and dishing out three assists. Ciaravino had three rebounds and two blocks as well.
For the Spartans, Cooper led the way with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting, along with four rebounds. Kohler and Scott each had five points, with the former having four boards alongside Cooper. Kohler had four turnovers as well.
To start the second half, Cooper scored the first points in over six minutes for MSU with a made free throw. Justin Mullins made the first field goal of the second half, but was immediately answered by Fears scoring his first points of the game. Kur Teng scored his first field goal of the game to cut the NU lead to four, along with getting the crowd back into it. The Wildcats led 37-33 entering the first media timeout.
Martinelli made both free throws out of the break, but Teng responded with a corner three. Page was fouled by Kohler on the other end. He missed both free throws, but an offensive rebound from Martinelli led to a layup from Ciaravino off an inbounds pass.
With the score at 41-38 in favor of the ‘Cats, coach Izzo was called for a technical foul after arguing an earlier call. Martinelli made both technical free throws, followed by Page scoring his first basket of the game. Ward started to get the crowd back into it, scoring two straight baskets that included an and-one. His personal 5-0 run got the Spartans to back down two. The next media timeout hit with 11:44 to go, where the ‘Cats led 45-43.
Out of the timeout, Kohler drilled a three to give the Spartans their first lead since 4:07 remaining in the first half. Fears then hit a mid-range jumper to extend his team’s lead to three. Martinelli made two free throws after being fouled by Cooper to make it a one-point game. Carr then lit up the Breslin center off a Reid layup with a highlight-reel windmill dunk. The Spartans led 52-47 with 9:14 remaining as coach Collins called a timeout.
Martinelli made a hook shot out of the timeout to silence the MSU crowd and to bring NU within three. Jordan Clayton was fouled away from the ball, and he shot a 1-and-1 since both teams were in the bonus. He made the first free throw to get NU to 50 points.
Fears was then fouled by Ciaravino on a three point attempt, and he made all three free throws out of the media stoppage to give his Spartans a 5 point lead. Kohler extended that lead to eight with a three as MSU had its largest lead of the night. Collins was forced to call a timeout with 6:26 to go. Up to this point, the Spartans had eight offensive boards in the second half.
After the quick break, Mullins made a layup to cut the lead to six. That didn’t deter the Spartans, as Fears scored a quick four points from two foul shots and an impressive layup. Cooper fouled Martinelli to bring about another media timeout. Michigan State led 62-52 with 3:35 left.
Out of the break, Martinelli made his two free throws, followed by Max Green drilling a triple to cut the MSU lead to five. After two Kohler free throws, Martinelli drilled a contested three to bring NU to within four. Reid was fouled shortly after, and he made both foul shots. The lead was now 64-62 in favor of Michigan State off a 10-2 run. Fears answered back though with a made layup. Page was injured on the rebound attempt following Reid’s missed layup, leading to NU calling a timeout after Carr’s dunk to extend the lead to six with just 1:11 to go.
The ‘Cats couldn’t get a shot to fall after the timeout, forcing them to foul MSU. Cooper made both his foul shots to extend the lead to eight, followed by Fears hitting two free throws to make it a 10 point game. After some more fouling, Michigan State was able to close out a 10 point victory over Northwestern.
Next up, Northwestern will continue its search for its first Big Ten win in Piscataway, NJ, where the ’Cats will take on Rutgers on Jan. 11.
Category: General Sports
