Michigan State University
Northwestern
Michigan State Defeats Northwestern, 74-58
1/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2001
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 3 Michigan State is the defending national champion with a team so deep its reserves would be starters most places. Northwestern is one of the youngest teams in the country with no seniors on the roster.
Take a guess which team won.
Jason Richardson scored 16 points and Zach Randolph added 15 points and six rebounds Wednesday night as the Spartans routed Northwestern 74-58.
Charlie Bell had 12 points and six assists, making him only the third player ever from Michigan State (16-1, 5-1 Big Ten) with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.
Andre Hutson, playing in his first game since being sidelined with pneumonia, had six points in 17 minutes. Hutson hadn't played since Jan. 13, when he had to be taken to the hospital with dehydration and stiff muscles after an overtime win against Wisconsin.
Tavaras Hardy had 17 points and Jitim Young added 10 for the Wildcats, who lost their 29th straight regular season Big Ten game. Northwestern (7-12, 0-7) hasn't won a conference game during the regular season since Feb. 6, 1999, when it beat Penn State.
The Wildcats managed to make a game of it in the last three minutes - Tavaras Hardy's dunk sparked a 10-0 run that cut the lead to 69-56 with 1:22 left - but it was way too late by then.
Say this for Northwestern, though, at least the outcome wasn't as ugly as last year's home game against Michigan State. The Wildcats were manhandled 59-29 on Jan. 27, 2000, the fewest points ever allowed by a Tom Izzo team.
The scary thing is, this wasn't even a stellar effort by Michigan State. The Spartans shot 65 percent, but they were slopping the second half. Though they outrebounded the Wildcats 32-22, they had only nine offensive boards. Northwestern had 11.
But even when the Spartans were sloppy, they still managed to look good. After the Wildcats stole a bad pass with about 18 minutes left in the game, Richardson tipped the ball and Bell picked it off.
Richardson then scored on a putback to give Michigan State a 45-26 lead.
Michigan State missed its first shot of the game, but Randolph grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback. That started a 10-0 run, and Northwestern never recovered.
The Wildcats were simply too undermanned to make it a fair game. They don't have any seniors on their team, and only two juniors.
And anytime they showed signs of gaining momentum, the Spartans crushed them. When Aaron Jennings scored on a nice spin move, Bell made a 3-pointer, the ball swishing cleanly through the net. When Young made a layup, Richardson responded with a monster dunk.
So the Wildcats had to take pleasure in the little victories. Like finally scoring on consecutive possessions in the first half. Or avoiding being doubled up at halftime. Or edging the Spartans on the offensive glass.
