For the first four minutes of Wednesday night's Big Ten home opener against Northwestern, it appeared MSU would continue the same poor play it exhibited in road losses to Iowa and Indiana.
Lazy passing and offensive fouls caused the Spartans to turn the ball over six times in the game's first four minutes, allowing the Wildcats to jump out to a 5-0 lead.
But the Spartans soon shook off the cobwebs and coasted to a 66-45 victory.
Sophomore forward Marquise Gray finally put MSU (14-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) on the board with 15:35 left in the half, sticking his hand into a passing lane for a deflection, then chasing down the loose ball to finish with a dunk.
"When (Northwestern guard Craig Moore) threw the ball, something in my head said, 'Go!' and I went," Gray said. "Whaddya know?"
Gray's "interception and touchdown" — as head coach Tom Izzo is prone to call such plays — set the wheels in motion for a 23-6 Spartans surge. Northwestern (10-6, 0-3) found its offense again late in the half but still trailed at the break, 32-22. MSU grabbed 21 rebounds in the first 20 minutes, while the Wildcats collected just four of their own.
The rebounding margin only grew in the second half. MSU finished with 37 total rebounds and limited Northwestern to 13. Sixteen of the Spartans' rebounds came on the offensive glass, paving the way for 19 second-chance points.
"They just destroyed us on the backboards," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said.
MSU outscored the Wildcats in the second half, 34-23, to preserve its lead and earn the win.
The familiar Breslin Center rims worked wonders for Drew Neitzel's recent shooting slump.
After hitting 3-of-13 shots from 3-point distance in his last two performances, the junior guard connected on 3-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc. He finished with a game-high 18 points, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. He also dished out five assists.
Gray also had a productive night on the offensive end. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line, connecting on two jump shots from the elbow in addition to his usual display of two-handed flushes.
Junior center Drew Naymick's effort may not show up on the statistics sheet, but the red-headed big man also made a major contribution.
He was a force on the glass, grabbing five offensive rebounds. He scored seven points — all from the charity stripe.
"That was the best performance for a guy that didn't have a field goal in a long time," Izzo said.
With the win, the Spartans move to 1-2 in conference play. Two of their next three games are at home, putting the team in a good position to rise above .500 in the Big Ten. They face Illinois at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Breslin Center.
"We needed this," Izzo said. "This was not an easy game for us."
Sigh of relief
A collective gasp filled Breslin Center early in the second half, when sophomore guard Maurice Joseph — who is recovering from a stress reaction in his right foot — fell to the floor, clutching his right leg.
He left the court under his own power and limped to the locker room but returned to action later in the game and finished with five points.
"I just felt like, 'Here we go again,'" Izzo said. "He was really in pain. Thank God it's nothing bad."
Ethan Conley can be reached at conleyet@msu.edu.
