Evanston, Ill. — With the Big Ten as tough as it is this season, any win, especially on the road, will be greeted with a smile.
That is why MSU's 77-66 road win over Northwestern on Saturday is much bigger than it seems.
With Illinois' and Michigan's losses Saturday, the No. 12 Spartans moved into a fourth-place tie in the Big Ten with Indiana and Ohio State — two teams MSU holds wins over this season.
Despite turning the ball over 17 times against the Wildcats' full-court defense, MSU (17-5 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) won the game on the glass by outrebounding Northwestern (10-10, 3-6) by 16.
"Nothing comes easy," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "We thought, at times, we played well enough to put them away, and, to Northwestern's credit, and with our deficiencies handling the ball, we let them back in it.
"We still have a lot of things to work on to improve and get when I think we can get by the end of the year."
MSU came out with a lot of energy, with junior guard Shannon Brown and redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray throwing down breakaway dunks to bring MSU fans in attendance at Welsh-Ryan Arena to their feet.
The Spartans found it difficult to get shots by Maurice Ager against Northwestern's zone defense, as the senior guard did not fire his first shot until nearly halfway through the first half, as he knocked down three of his 21 points.
"Maurice let it come to him," Izzo said.
"After the performances he's had here in the past, I think everybody thought he was just going to shoot it, but he threw some nice drop-offs."
Down by 11, Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody looked to his bench for a spark and he found one in forward Bernard Cote. He came into the game and knocked down a 3-pointer to cut MSU's lead to eight. He scored five points in the half as MSU's lead was down to four as the teams at the break.
"Bernard Cote played better for them and I think if he continues to play better that will be important for them in the future," Izzo said.
Whatever momentum the Wildcats might have had was quickly squashed by the Spartans early in the second half.
After a 3-pointer by Cote to open the half, the Spartans went on a 12-0 run over the next few minutes, keyed by 3-pointers from Brown and senior center Paul Davis.
"What happened in the first eight or 10 minutes of the second half?" Carmody wondered. "I will look at the tape, but it did not seem like we were as energized as we were in the last six or seven minutes of the first half and certainly not like we were toward the end of the game."
MSU's lead crept out to 19, 61-42, with less than nine minutes left on a dunk by Davis, but after that, MSU's poor ball handling allowed Northwestern to chip away at the lead. The Wildcats slashed the lead to eight with less than three minutes to play.
But after that, the Spartans knocked down their free throws, many coming from freshman guard Travis Walton, who was 5-for-6 from the line in the final three minutes.
"They are a never-quit team," Izzo said. "I told my team when we were up 16 that they could come back. They deserve more credit than we do blame."
MSU is off until 8 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Purdue at Breslin Center.
