Northwestern never quit despite facing a large deficit against No. 10 Michigan State. The Spartans punched early; the Wildcats responded. Michigan State pulled away again; NU countered.
But the Spartans were too much and built too big of a lead early in the game for the Cats to recover.
Junior guard Craig Moore scored a career-high 28 points and led a 9-0 run on three consecutive 3-point shots to cut a 22-point deficit to 13 with 14 minutes remaining. But Michigan State responded to expand the lead and went on to win 78-62 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday.
“We never got them to the point where they had to worry about making shots and missing shots,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We got the lead down to 10, but we never got them to the point where there was pressure and shots had to be made.”
The Spartans (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) set the tone early and took the lead. Neitzel hit a pair of 3-point shots in the first seven minutes to open the game on a on a 12-3 run.
The Cats (6-10, 0-6) closed the gap to six points midway through the first half, but could not generate enough offense to keep up.
The Spartans went on a 19-4 run during an eight-minute stretch in the middle of the first half to create a 21-point lead with about four minutes before the break.
“They just jumped on us,” Carmody said. “They shot the ball very well. The looks they were getting were too open (and) too clear. I thought they were prepared. They defended us very well. I think we had four or five shot clock violations, and that usually is indicative of a team that is guarding you very well.”
The Cats responded at the end of the half, reeling off 13 straight points behind Moore’s 3-point shooting to close the lead to eight points with more than two minutes left.
Michigan State came out of the locker room on a 12-0 run to turn a 10-point halftime lead into a rout quickly. The Spartans hit 61.1 percent of their 3-point shots.
But Michigan State could not pull away completely from NU.
“Every time we got a big lead, it was like we didn’t respect it,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “I was disappointed in that. You do a good job and then we give them nine straight points. You’ve got to give Northwestern credit. They earned those baskets.”
Moore kept Michigan State close throughout the game. The junior guard entered the game struggling from beyond the arc, shooting 23 percent on 3s and 34 percent from the field in conference play.
Carmody said he did not decide to start the sharpshooter until an hour before the game.
But Moore broke out of his shooting slump to keep the Cats in the game. Moore hit a team record seven 3-point field goals in addition to leading NU in scoring.
Sophomore forward Kevin Coble scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. Freshman forward Nikola Baran added nine first-half points and chipped in three assists.
Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel scored 20 points and shot 6 of 10 from beyond the arc. Forward Raymar Morgan led the Spartans with 23 points and eight rebounds, and guard Chris Allen added 17 points off the bench.
Moore said the team gained confidence from its ability to create runs and that it feels its first conference win could come soon.
The Cats’ next chance comes against a struggling Illinois team at 7 p.m. on Sunday in Champaign.
“We feel like we can go anywhere and win in the conference,” Moore said. “We need to get over the hump. But if we can start every half with a run of our own, instead of letting them get a run, I think we’ll be fine.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
