Michigan State University
Northwestern
Spartans Slam Northwestern
2/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 15, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Kelvin Torbert and Aloysius Anagonye had their best games Saturday, and Michigan State was good enough to win a game it needed.
Torbert had a career-high 22 points and made spectacular plays at both ends of the court as the Spartans beat Northwestern 64-51 Saturday.
Anagonye added 13 points, a game-high eight rebounds and didn't miss a shot as the Spartans (14-9, 6-5 Big Ten) pulled away with a 36-26 second half.
Torbert was 8-for-11 from the field and Anagonye was 6-for-6 as Michigan State won for the fourth time in five games and stayed two games out of first place in the conference.
"I thought Torbert, for 30 minutes, played as well as he has since he has been here," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "And Anagonye really played a lot better. But we'll have to play a lot better if we expect to go down to Illinois (Tuesday) and give them a ballgame."
Northwestern (10-12, 2-9) was led by Jason Burke with 12 points and Jitim Young with 10. But the Wildcats couldn't overcome 20 turnovers or build on Wednesday's upset of league co-leader Purdue.
"I just thought Michigan State played a very good second half," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "They did a very good job defensively on our center (Aaron Jennings, who had 20 points against Purdue and just six against the Spartans). He is real important to us. I thought Anagonye and (Erazem) Lorbek did a very good job on him."
Torbert had the defensive play of the day, soaring to swat away Burke's transition layup early in the second half. From that point on, the 6-foot-4 sophomore guard was dominant on offense, too.
"We had to respond, since we let them hang around early," Torbert said. "That play gave us an energy boost. But without Alan (Anderson, sidelined with a dislocated finger), someone had to step up. Today that was me."
Torbert's points came on mid-range jumpers, spins and elevation in the lane and 6-for-6 work at the foul line.
"We've convinced him he's more of a 15-foot player now," Izzo said. "And that's OK. Michael Jordan wasn't a great shooter in college, either. I'm not comparing the two of them. But sometimes people want to be something they're not."
Despite committing six turnovers in the first 5:48, Michigan State had a 28-25 halftime lead. Both teams shot .500 from the field in the first 20 minutes, but the Wildcats had zero points on second chances and just two in transition.
The Spartans settled down and had just six turnovers in the last 34:12, as season scoring leader Chris Hill had five assists, three steals and just one turnover to compensate for a six-point game.
"A win is good for this team, regardless of who does the scoring," Hill said. "We finally played with the energy we needed and will need again at Illinois. That won't be easy. But we know it's doable after winning there last year."
Michigan State survived without league scoring and assist champ Marcus Taylor in the second half in Champaign and won 67-61, handing Illinois a rare conference loss at home.
"Whatever we did today, we've got to double it," Anagonye said. "Emotion, enthusiasm, readiness, focus - any word a coach would use, we need it to win in Assembly Hall."
