Michigan State had a chance to climb to .500 in Big Ten play on Sunday night with a visit to the Northwestern Wildcats. And the game started off according to script with Tyson Walker sinking a three on the game’s opening shot. The two teams kept it close for the first ten minutes, with the lead going back and forth several times. MSU opened up a four point lead right about halfway through the half. But right after the under-8 commercial, famed Spartan-slayer Boo Buie hit a jumper to put the home team up 26-24.
For the rest of the half, Northwestern really clamped down on defense, forcing a number of Spartan turnovers, and also took advantage of some fortuitous bounces on their offensive end.