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Men's basketball defeats Wildcats, 64-51

February 15, 2003
Freshman guard Maurice Ager lets a shot go at the three point line over Northwestern center Aaron Jennings at the Breslin Center Saturday. Ager was 2-3 behind the arch and finished with 8 points overall. The Spartans toppled the Wildcats 64-51. —

It was low-scoring, ugly and slow, but that's the way the MSU men's basketball team liked it Saturday, knocking off visiting Northwestern 61-54.

The Spartans (14-9 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) again defended Breslin Center, improving to 5-0 at home in conference play. Northwestern (10-12, 2-9), on the other hand, never seemed able to shake off the cobwebs of a lethargic start.

Head coach Tom Izzo characterized the win as ugly, yet appreciated it.

"Well, it wasn't the prettiest win, but we're always happy to get a win," Izzo said following the game. "We had a lot of guys that just played okay.

"We've got to play a lot better if we expect to go down to Illinois and give

them a ball game."

The Spartans might have not caught Northwestern on their best day.

The Wildcats have beat both Indiana and conference-leading Purdue this month, as well as embarrassing MSU 61-49 last season.

Sophomore guard Chris Hill said that Northwestern's struggle against MSU was simply the result of location.

"It's so hard to win on the road in this league," Hill said. "I think they didn't shoot as well as they did against Indiana or Purdue."

The Wildcats shot the ball relatively well throughout the game (45 percent), but MSU's defensive efforts in the second half proved too much for Northwestern's marksmen shooters.

Hill said he thought MSU did a solid job of locking down defensively in the second half.

"We were struggling offensively in the first, and I think our defense ignited us in the second half," he said.

Hill finished with 6 points and 5 assists, but continues to struggle with his shot. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard has connected on just nine of his last 32 field goal attempts in the past three games.

But one defensive play in the second ignited not only the team, but the sold-out Breslin Center crowd as well.

As Northwestern's Jason Burke streaked to the right side of the hoop on a fast break, sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert elevated from the left, jumped head and shoulders above Burke and swatted Burke's shot rows deep into the crowd.

The defense must have had its effect. Torbert finished with a game-high 22 points, connecting on 8-for-11 from the field and all six free-throw attempts.

His points and field goals were both career highs for the Flint native.

The only other Spartan to register double-digits in points was senior forward Aloysius Anagonye. His 13 points were complemented by eight rebounds, six of them offensive.

Anagonye was singled out by Wildcat head coach Bill Carmody for his elevated defense against the Northwestern big men.

"They did a very good job defensively on our center (Aaron Jennings)," Carmody said. "He was able to score, but overall I thought that Anagonye and (freshman forward Erazem) Lorbek did a very good job on him."

Jennings, who averages 13 points per conference game, was held to just six Saturday afternoon.

Carmody said the entire MSU team played well on the defensive end, while his squad was left in the dust.

"I thought they played a very good second half and we were sloppy," Carmody said. "I guess I can credit that to their defense. It's a good team defensively as a whole unit."

While MSU improved conference win totals, the Wildcats continue to slide. Carmody's club is just 2-9 in conference play this season.

But do not assume that MSU is forgetting about their own 2-4 conference start.

"We've got our backs against the wall," Torbert said. "Now we've got to

fight our way out."

For more basketball coverage please see Monday's edition of The State News.

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