“He sure has been a monster,” head coach Tom Izzo said of the senior. “He’s getting rebounds like old…in fact, I won’t say like old times, better than old times. Here’s a kid two years ago couldn’t get up and down the floor 15 minutes a game, and now he’s carrying our team. I’m proud of him and happy for him, but there’s a lot of work to do.”

The Spartans shot 11-of-21 from downtown, led by junior guard Travis Trice and sophomore guard Denzel Valentine, who each hit three.

Northwestern made their fair share of triples, going 9-of-24 from long range.

Payne got things going early when he grabbed three offensive rebounds on the same possession than ended in a outback early in the game.

After finishing 3-of-20 in the loss to Wisconsin last Sunday, sophomore Gary Harris found his shot once again.

“It felt good,” Harris said. “Whenever you shoot and see a few shots go in, definitely. I didn’t go 3-of-20, so I guess I’m pleased with that.”

Harris finished with 14 points on 6-13 shooting.

Izzo was less pleased than Harris, and said there’s no question the talented guard is pressing a bit.

“He’s going to have to learn how to deal with the pressure,” Izzo said. It’s hard. He’s probably not playing the way we’re used to seeing him play. That’s something you’ve got to learn.”

JerShon Cobb put on a show for the Wildcats in the second half, scoring the first ten Wildcat points of the period.

There was a stretch where the two teams combined to hit six straight three-pointers, including two from Payne and three from Cobb.

The barrage from behind the arc wasn’t enough for Northwestern to overcome the Spartans, as MSU went on a 15-5 run the end of the first half and start of the second.

Coming into the game, Northwestern had the second best defense in the country, but they had no answer for Payne.

Payne was a force on the defensive end as well, holding the Wildcat forwards to just 10 points.

This is the first double-double for Payne since missing seven games earlier this season with a sore foot.

Still, he said his foot has never felt better.

“It’s been all season, even during the summer,” Payne said. “I’ve never been out a long period of time. Everything was new to me. I didn’t think I would come back this strong.”

Valentine, Harris and Trice all scored in double figures for MSU, while Cobb, Drew Crawford and Tre Demps led Northwestern.

The Spartans return to action when they host Nebraska at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said when health, the Spartans are the best team in the nation, but for Izzo, there’s a long way to go.

“I love this team,” he said. “I love the fact that we’ve got good payers, great guys and we’ve got interchangeable pieces. I like our chances, if we can get everybody back, to be a very, very good basketball team. Which mean’s you’ve got a chance.”