“I never like playing a team close like this,” Izzo said. “But if I had to pick one team I’d rather play, it’s one that runs a funky offense. I guess if you have to do it, this is the best team to do it against.”

Izzo said after practice Thursday that playing Northwestern twice without much time in between gives everyone from his players to the Spartans’ video editors an advantage because they all are familiar with the Wildcat’s offense, full of backdoor cuts and constant motion.

However, senior guard Kalin Lucas said the biggest advantage might come when MSU is on offense, because he and his teammates already know how to go about beating Northwestern’s sometimes-confusing defense.

“Sometimes they switch it up and sometimes they’re straight man,” Lucas said. “With us, we just have to prepare for if they’re in a man or in a 1-3-1 and keep attacking them at all times.”
Less than two weeks ago, the Spartans had the most success against the Wildcats when attacking the zone from the middle with junior forward Draymond Green.

And although Green often makes facilitating the offense from the high post look effortless, he said that is not always the case.

“I embrace it,” Green said of distributing from the middle. “But it’s not as easy as you would think it is. You have to fight in there to get position and fight in there to get open.”

Along with moving the ball offensively, the Spartans won last Monday’s matchup thanks in large part to a defensive effort that slowed down Northwestern forward John Shurna, the conference’s leading scorer at the time (22.2 points per game.) Shooting 1-for-11 from the field, including 1-for-5 from the 3-point line, Shurna scored 11 points while playing on an injured ankle.

Since that game, though, Shurna and the Wildcats have picked it up offensively, scoring at least 90 points in their last two wins against Indiana and Iowa.

If MSU wants to pick up its second win against the Wildcats in the last 11 days, the Spartans likely again will have to slow down a quicker and more effective Shurna and an offense that shot better than 50 percent from the field and from the 3-point line.

“This is a different Northwestern team than the one we played because Shurna is playing better right now, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Izzo said.

Even with a hobbled Shurna struggling in the first meeting, Northwestern was able to cut a 13-point lead down to one with 28 seconds left in the game. Guard Michael Thompson was key during the Wildcats’ comeback, scoring nine points on the 12-0 run, and will be another focus for the MSU defense when trying to slow down the Wildcats Princeton-style offense.

So although Shurna will get the most attention defensively, the Spartans also will look to do a better job defensively against the rest of the Wildcats and try to put them away if MSU can build a big lead.

“We have to play hard from the start,” Lucas said. “And if we do have a lead, we want to build from it.”

Saturday’s game will be MSU’s last home game before hitting the road to play No. 16 Illinois and No. 8 Purdue next week. Green said the Spartans aren’t looking ahead to those games, but a home win against Northwestern definitely would be helpful before two tough road matchups.

“It’s just important to get the win at home,” Green said. “We’re not looking ahead, that’s next week. We’re just looking at right now. We got Northwestern right now.”