Michigan State stopped the Northwestern men’s basketball team from reverting to its bread and butter – the backdoor cut.

But fortunately for the Wildcats on Wednesday night, they had a backup plan.

NU (13-8, 4-5 Big Ten) drilled a Big Ten season-high 10 three pointers, while turning the ball over only three times, en route to a 61-49 win over Michigan State before a crowd of 5,375 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was the Cats’ first victory against the Spartans (13-9, 4-5) since Jan. 19, 1997, and only their second win over Michigan State in their last 29 attempts.

“Michigan State is very well-schooled defensively,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said. “You don’t get too many backdoor cuts. We told our guys, ‘Don’t force anything, keep cutting, and you’re probably going to have to knock some down.'”

Cats forward Tavaras Hardy made a career-high four three pointers. Hardy’s range has been stellar as of late: He’s 9 of 18 from beyond the arc in NU’s last three games. The senior made just two long-range shots – both of them coming last season – in 40 attempts during his first three years at NU.

“They’ve been feeling a lot better,” Hardy said of his three-pointers. “I haven’t really been thinking about it a lot. If they leave me open, then it’s not a problem.”

Hardy’s excellent shooting forced Michigan State big man Aloysius Anagonye to guard the senior on the perimeter, allowing NU more space to operate down low. The Cats used an inside-out game to tire the Spartans’ defense.

Forward Winston Blake made three shots from beyond the arc, while center Aaron Jennings, guard Collier Drayton and forward Vedran Vukusic each added one.

NU and Michigan State traded baskets throughout the first half, and the Cats took a 30-29 lead into the break. Hardy’s three long-range shots before the intermission compensated for the Cats’ failure to make it to the charity stripe for a single shot.

The Spartans had the hot hand early as they shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half. But NU’s swarming defense took away the inside threat of Anagonye, holding the Spartans to just 35 percent shooting in the second half and 43.2 percent overall.

Anagonye had six quick points from the lane in the early going but tallied just one second-period point.

“The drop-off was a combination of things,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “We did a poor job of getting the ball in and out and a very poor job of getting ready to shoot the basketball. They did a very good job of switching out and flying at people.”

Michigan State played without leading scorer Marcus Taylor, who suffered a concussion at Illinois on Sunday, leaving the Michigan State starting lineup with three freshmen -Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert and Alan Anderson.

NU’s three turnovers were a season-low, and despite a sluggish second-half start – Michigan State went on a 5-0 run