Northwestern's playbook is more complex than a Rubik's cube.
Back-door cuts.
Screens everywhere.
A zone defense that morphs like Alex Mack.
The Wildcats usually give up a lot in terms of talent — as evidenced by MSU winning 34 of the last 36 meetings between the two — but their quirky system requires a lot of extra attention in pregame preparations.
And for an MSU team that's been robbed of practice time because of injuries in the last month, now is not the ideal time for distractions like that.
"I think that's exactly the problem right now with them having such a unique offense and a unique defense," head coach Tom Izzo said. "Trying to figure out what to do … is difficult."
The two teams will tip off for their only meeting of the season at 8 p.m. tonight at Breslin Center, and the Wildcats, who went 10-3 to start the season including a win against Miami (Fla.) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, should present their stiffest test in awhile.
Freshman Kevin Coble, a crafty 6-foot-8 combo forward, is third among conference freshmen with 12.4 points per game on better than 50 percent shooting. His emergence has helped fill the void left by the graduation of versatile forward Vedran Vukusic, whose 19 points a game last season were second in the Big Ten behind MSU's Maurice Ager.
"(Coble) is unique," Izzo said. "He's built kind of like Isaiah (Dahlman). He handles the ball, he's kind of got a quick shot, he can dribble it, he can shoot a 3.
"He knows that offense well for a freshman."
But the catalyst for the Wildcats' quirky system is Tim Doyle. The 6-foot-5 swingman isn't big on style — he used a hook shot in the Wildcats' last game that hasn't been in vogue since the '70s, and his coach once compared his physique to Fred Flintstone — but he's effective. He's averaging a career-high 10.3 points and is third in the conference with 5.7 assists per game.
"He's very crafty, clever," Izzo said. "He creates some problems."
The Wildcats run a methodical Princeton offense similar to, but not quite as extreme as, the one the Spartans saw in their season-opening 45-34 win against Brown.
That system produces low scores (Northwestern is last in the Big Ten in both scoring offense and scoring defense) and if you're not careful, a lot of problems for your offense — the Wildcats lead the Big Ten with nine steals per game.
"You get caught passing the ball around," Izzo said. "And the more you pass the ball around, the more opportunities you have for turnovers."
Freshman forward Raymar Morgan and sophomore guard Maurice Joseph were limited in practice Monday but both should play. Izzo said Morgan might see some time at power forward in an attempt to jump start MSU's struggling offense.
Tom Keller can be reached at kellert1@msu.edu.
