The conference season offers its fair share of second chances. Northwestern’s 71-67 loss at Michigan State on Saturday proved that parity is a little harder to come by.
After nearly upsetting the Spartans (12-5, 4-1 Big Ten) with a 12-0 run in the final four minutes of the teams’ first matchup on Jan. 3, the Wildcats (11-5, 2-4) traveled to East Lansing looking to stage their first Big Ten upset of the season and bounce back from the 65-62 loss.
“We didn’t just want to come close this time,” junior forward John Shurna said. “We came here to win. Clearly that didn’t work out like we wanted.”
NU got off to something of a plodding start. Save for a converted free throw by senior point guard Michael Thompson, the Cats were eerily quiet during the beginning minutes of the first half at Breslin Center. During the opening seven-minute stretch, the Cats went a stone cold 0-for-7 from the field, marking NU’s longest field-goal drought all season.
And for a team that makes shots – NU is the nation’s 13th most efficient shooting team from the field – a scoreless seven minutes adds up.
“In the first five minutes, a lot was said,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Our energy level defensively was the best it has been. We really took it at Northwestern; we defended them extremely well.”
Michigan State neutralized NU’s potent perimeter and mid-range game, forcing the Cats to try and grab points in the paint.
Part of NU’s early scoring woes also had to do with its inability to hold on to the ball. The Cats turned the ball over ten times during the first half, which is uncharacteristic for the team that has the nation’s 15th lowest turnover percentage.
“We got off to a bad start,” coach Bill Carmody said. “(We) turned the ball over so much in the first six minutes, ten turnovers at half, when we only average 11 per game.”
Shurna felt the brunt of the Spartans’ defense, with forward Delvon Roe recording a career-high five blocks on the night and giving Shurna limited looks on the perimeter. Shurna, who has been struggling with a left ankle injury since late December, went scoreless in the first half and notched just six points on the night.
“They certainly knew what they were doing out there,” Shurna said. “(Roe) did a really good job on me. You can tell they were prepared and are extremely well coached.”
With NU’s leading scorer no longer a lucrative option, the Cats drew points from the bench in the first half, briefly defying the popular notion that Shurna controls NU’s fate. All said, NU’s bench pitched in 11 points on the night with junior forward Davide Curletti leading the non-starters with six points.
Defensively, NU relied on a quick shift between its 1-3-1 and matchup to try and destabilize Michigan State’s offense. And in the first half, it worked.
The Cats held the Spartans to a dismal 26 percent field goal percentage and went into the half with the 23-18 lead.
“What (Northwestern) did well that we did not handle well was the changing of defenses,” Izzo said. ” When they change defenses like that, the guards have to recognize it.”
The second half proved more tumultuous than the first, featuring eight lead changes.
Sophomore guard Drew Crawford, who was coming off a strong performance at Iowa where he hit five three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds, paced Northwestern’s offense with 16 points against Michigan State. It was Crawford’s jumper that gave NU the 57-54 lead with just 46 seconds left to play. But Michigan State’s Draymond Green, who was just named Big Ten Player of the Week, buried six free throws in the final minute to tie up the score 60-60.
With just 10.8 seconds left in regulation, Thompson, who became NU’s all-time leader in assists after notching five assists on the night, dribbled up court looking to finish the game for the Cats. In an uncharacteristic move, he turned the ball over on a traveling call, sending the game into overtime.
“I couldn’t tell if he got bumped or not on the travel call, but he didn’t complain,” Carmody said. “So it was probably good defense. I didn’t want to call a timeout. All I would have said is ‘make a play.'”
During overtime NU jumped out to an early three-point lead, but then Michigan State guard Keith Appling stepped up. Appling sunk a clutch three pointer and a pair of free throws in to give Michigan State the 69-65 lead. The Spartans outscored the Cats 11-7 in overtime.
The victory marked the second consecutive overtime win for Michigan State after taking down Wisconsin 64-61 in extra time last week.
NU will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena to face Michigan on Tuesday night.
“What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger,” junior center Luka Mirkovic said. “I think we’re going to be a lot stronger after this loss, I think we’re going to come out and play really well against Michigan.”