When you’re down 20 points, Bill Carmody admits, “you have some time to think.” But for the second consecutive game, he came to no revelations: No. 3 Michigan State stomped the Wildcats 74-58 Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, NU’s 29th-straight Big Ten loss.
The game’s first five minutes quelled any doubts about the Spartans’ superior talent. Forward Jason Richardson and center Zach Randolph quickly claimed their territory, scoring nine of Michigan State’s first 12 points.
Richardson capped the opening blitz with a quick juke to his right, a streak down the lane and a thundering slam, causing the NU student section to duck and cover.
Michigan State (16-1, 5-1 Big Ten) extended its lead to 17-3 before the Cats were saved by a media timeout. While NU (7-12, 0-7) bricked wide-open jumpers and tossed errant backdoor feeds, the Spartans’ burst closed the books early on, recalling Purdue’s 16-2 start in its 78-59 slamming of the Cats on Saturday.
“The game was basically over after the first six minutes,” Carmody said. “The first play of the game (guard Charlie) Bell missed a shot, one of the few he missed, and Randolph was right there to pick up the offensive rebound, put it back, two points.”
Randolph and his fellow board lords racked up 44 points in the paint, doubling the Cats’ total of 22. Michigan State’s big men often beat NU to the post, making it easy for Bell and point guard Marcus Taylor to dump the ball in.
Richardson matched his season average with 16 points, while Randolph tallied 15 in front of 6,525 fans, including Michigan State alum and current NBA guard Steve Smith.
The Spartans shot a mind-boggling 68 percent in the first half and went into the locker room with a 41-22 advantage.
“We played very well early, did a good job taking care of the ball early, did a good job of executing our offense early and did a pretty good job of defending early,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
Although Izzo said he did a poor job holding his team’s interest in the second half, its efforts in the first 20 minutes were more than enough to topple NU. The Cats could not overcome a shaky offensive opening, as the Spartans clouded the paint and suffocated any backdoor passing.
NU made a third of its shots in the first half and shot only 2-for-9 from the free throw line. The Cats drained 20 to 25 seconds off the shot clock before running most plays, creating general confusion and limiting their high-percentage shots.
“When you go against a team like that, they can sense you are scared,” NU guard Jitim Young said. “If you just go out and play them, they will play you regular. But if you come out all tentative, backing off and everything, they’ll just attack you and stuff it right in your face.”
For the second-straight game the Cats’ leading scorer, Winston Blake, was silenced by a marauding defense. As he did at Purdue, Blake came out of the gate ice-cold, bouncing his first shot attempt off the bottom of the backboard. With 9:03 remaining in the first half, Blake rimmed out an easy bank shot and had a layup swatted by Randolph two minutes later.
Carmody attributed Blake’s recent troubles to opponents shifting their defenses to stop him. Without Blake’s prowess on the perimeter, Michigan State could collapse into the paint.
“They are really playing Winston tight,” Young said. “When we kick the ball out to him, they are all on him, so instead of just shooting the ball calm, he’s forcing shots. Then when he gets wide open, he’s like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m wide open,’ and just shoots it.”
NU was able to bounce back in the second half, outscoring Michigan State 36-33 and shooting 48 percent from the floor. Down 69-46 with 3:58 left to play, the Cats capitalized on five quick Spartans turnovers for a 10-0 run.
Forward Tavaras Hardy, who led all scorers with 17 points, notched four points in NU’s burst and had 12 points in the second half. Although they were pleased by the second-half improvement, Cats players and coaches stressed the importance of playing hard for 40 minutes.
“People said we made a little run here and there, but I always think that you probably made that run because the other team eased up a little bit,” Carmody said. “It’s hard (for Michigan State) to keep going at that pace when you’ve played that well, so I usually don’t take anything too positive out of those things.”
