It was a tale of two halves in East Lansing, Mich.

After a dominating first half performance in which the Northwestern defense limited the high-powered Michigan State offense to just 130 yards of total offense, the Wildcats couldn’t stop the Spartans in the second. Michigan State scored 24 points in 10:23 to come away with a 24-14 win.

Looking to go over .500 on its homecoming, Michigan State looked like a different team in the second half. The Spartans took advantage of a Drake Dunsmore fumble early in the third quarter. In a span of 13 minutes after the Dunsmore fumble, Michigan State racked up 205 yards of offense and 17 points. After starting the second half with a 7-0 lead, the Cats found themselves in a 17-7 hole to begin the fourth quarter.

A Jeravin Matthews fumble on a kickoff to start the fourth quarter led to seven more points for the Spartans. Zeke Markshausen’s touchdown catch with 10:28 left put NU back within two scores.

After that it was all Michigan State. The Spartans stopped the Cats on two fourth downs to close out the game.

It was a career day for Markshausen. The senior hauled in 16 catches, the fourth most ever in a Big Ten contest.

NU returns to Evanston next weekend for a homecoming showdown of its own, as it takes on Indiana at 11:00 A.M.