Freshman guard Lourawls Nairn got the start over senior guard Travis Trice Tuesday night against Northwestern. His energy was immediately felt, and the Spartans ended the half on a 22-1 run. MSU leads the Wildcats 38-14 at halftime.
MSU shot 9-for-18 from deep and held Northwestern to 4-of-22 shooting overall.
Junior guard Bryn Forbes scored 11 points and drained three 3-pointers, and junior guard Denzel Valentine has six points and six assists. Senior forward Branden Dawson has five points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Valentine got the Spartans going, stealing the ball and pulling up for a 3-pointer, and then finding Forbes for a long two in transition.
Dawson converted a 3-point play, and a Valentine-to-Matt Costello alley-oop gave the Spartans an early 10-4 lead.
Timely 3-point shooting by Forbes and freshman forward Marvin Clark helped the Spartans maintain a six-point lead. Clark's 3-pointer at the 10 minute mark put the Spartans up 19-13.
Forbes knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game, and Valentine added another one to make it a 12-0 MSU run, all 3-pointers. This gave them a 28-13 lead.
Clark drained yet another 3-pointer near the five minute mark to push the run to 17-0.
Valentine grabbed an offensive board on the next offensive possession and quickly found senior guard Travis Trice open from the arc for another 3-pointer.
Nairn even got into the mix, draining an open midrange jump shot to push the lead to 38-13.
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