MSU head coach Tom Izzo, Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody and MSU point guard Kalin Lucas weigh in on Northwestern’s 70-63 victory over the Spartans Wednesday at Breslin Center. The loss snapped MSU’s 11-game winning streak, as well as its 28-game home winning streak. The loss drops the No. 7 Spartans to 5-1 in the Big Ten and 15-3 overall.
On Wednesday night, the No. 7 MSU men’s basketball team committed 18 turnovers, shot 40 percent from the floor and let an opposing player to score more than 30 points for the first time since the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
After having luck on their side and coming away with a win in each of the past three games when they arguably shouldn’t have, the Spartans finally got what their play earned them — a loss.
Fresh off its upset of then-No. 18 Minnesota on Sunday, unranked Northwestern (10-6 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) came into Breslin Center and beat the Spartans 70-63, breaking MSU’s 11-game winning streak and 28-game home winning streak.
“I have never felt good leaving this town, so today is a really good win for our program and for our guys,” said Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody, whose team also won at Breslin Center for the first time.
“You have to be a little fortunate to win here, and I thought all our guys came through when they had to and especially near the end of the game.”
Northwestern forward Kevin Coble scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting and went 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, and had four of Northwestern’s nine steals. Guard Michael Thompson added 20 points for the Wildcats, as he and guard Craig Moore (11 points) each drilled two deep 3-pointers in the final seven minutes to hold off an MSU comeback.
Northwestern, which had seven turnovers, scored 27 points off MSU’s 18 turnovers.
“We just didn’t handle their back cuts very well, we just didn’t make any shots, we turned the ball over, threw it around and looked like a dysfunctional team,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “That’s what happens when you don’t make shots.”
For MSU (15-3, 5-1), sophomore guard Kalin Lucas scored a team-high 20 points and senior center Goran Suton recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Junior forward Raymar Morgan, who entered the game as MSU’s leading scorer, scored one point and pulled down one rebound in 18 minutes as he battled an upper respiratory problem.
“They played great, we didn’t,” Lucas said. “We just didn’t bring it. We didn’t bring it from the start and if you don’t bring it from the start, and you have has many turnovers as we had, you’re not going to get the win.”
Despite eight first-half turnovers and 18 points from Coble in the first half, the Spartans were up 34-33 at halftime. A jumper by Thompson and back-to-back buckets by Coble early in the second half gave Northwestern the lead until two free throws by sophomore guard Durrell Summers put MSU up 49-48 lead with 7:24 remaining.
The Wildcats came right back with consecutive 3-pointers by Moore and Thompson to go up 54-49, but a conventional three-point play by Lucas put the Spartans within two.
Thompson and Lucas then traded 3-pointers, but Moore nailed another deep trey to give Northwestern a 60-55 lead.
“You have to give all the credit to them,” Izzo said. “They out played us in every way, and when we got back they hit that dagger, long three.
“(If) you hit two shots like that, maybe it’s your night.”
Down 64-57, Summers connected on a 17-footer and after Moore split a pair of free throws, freshman guard Korie Lucious drilled a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make the score 65-62 and keep the Spartans’ hopes alive. Coble and Suton both split a pair of free throws, but Thompson ended the game with four straight free throws to hold onto the win.
Izzo said he has been warning his players for weeks that the Spartans would have a loss sooner or later because of their practice habits. Sure enough, he was right.
“He’s been telling us the past two, two and a half weeks,” Lucas said.
“We’ve been practicing hard two days, then taking a day or two off. We do deserve this loss.”
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The Spartans travel to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State (13-4, 3-3) at 3:45 p.m. Sunday.
