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Ager's high scoring leads Spartans to victory over Wildcats

March 3, 2005
Senior guard Alan Anderson goes in for a layup during Wednesday night's game against the Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. —

Evanston, Ill. - It's hard to believe that MSU junior guard Maurice Ager would have another huge scoring game against Northwestern.

But after the Wildcats cut an 18-point deficit to five points late in the game, Ager was there to stop them.

After he hit a 3-pointer with 3:39 left in the game, the Spartans cleared the lane for the Ager to drive to the paint where he was fouled.

Ager has averaged 15.6 points per game against the Wildcats with 69.2 percent shooting.

His 20 points led MSU (21-5 overall, 12-3 Big Ten) to a 69-58 win over Northwestern (14-14, 6-9) - its 21st win of the season.

"It just seems like I get more open looks," Ager said.

Ager got help from senior swingman Alan Anderson, who added 22 points and six rebounds.

"Alan was solid and steady and he's been our most steady player all season," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "Those two guys carried us."

Despite the win, Ager said the team needs to do a better job of handling the ball.

MSU committed 17 turnovers on 11 WIldcats steals, most of them coming on half-court presses. Nine of those turnovers came during the 19-6 run in the second half.

"We didn't do a very good job in the second half," Izzo said. "We were out of sync."

Junior center Paul Davis finished with eight points and 12 rebounds and senior guard Kelvin Torbert added seven points.

The Spartans built a 17-point lead in the first half after a frustrated Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody was called for a technical foul at 7:56.

With 35 seconds left in the first half, Carmody was kicked out of the game after continuously arguing with a referee.

The Spartans used an open layup by Torbert to close the half at 37-22.

Northwestern cut the lead to 13 when Mohamed Hachad took the ball behind his back through the lane for a reverse layup.

The Wildcats used a halfcourt trap and sloppy play by MSU to drop the Spartans lead to eight at 9:17 left in the second half after Hachad forced two steals near midcourt.

After Ager's 3-pointer, Anderson drove through the lane for a layup, which put the lead back to eight points.

"It was just too much to overcome," Carmody said. "Our guys had used up too much energy."

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