No. 10 Michigan State Falls to Northwestern 64-62

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team fell behind early and had a chance to win or tie the game in the final seconds, but the 10th-ranked Spartans lost to Northwestern, 64-62, at the Breslin Center on Saturday afternoon.

The loss ended a nine-game win streak for the Spartans, who fall to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while Northwestern improves to 9-6 overall and 2-4 in league play.

Junior forward Julius Marble (Dallas, Texas/Dallas Jesuit) scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Spartans, while senior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) added 10 points and nine rebounds and junior forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]) had 10 points and four boards.

Recap

Michigan State struggled throughout and took a 4-point lead (50-46) midway through the second half but could not hold on as Northwestern took a 62-56 on a three-point play from Ryan Young with 2:33 left.
The Spartans hit a pair of baskets and had a chance for the lead with two seconds left when a 3-pointer from Hall was off the mark. MSU got the rebound and senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) was fouled with one second left, but his first free throw was off the mark as Northwestern held on for the win.
Trailing 38-33 at the break, baskets from Brown and Marble cut the NU lead to 38-37, but the Wildcats used an 8-2 run to take a 46-39 lead on a layup from Chase Audige at the 15:09 mark.
The Spartans responded with an 11-0 run over 4:35 and took a 50-46 lead after back-to-back baskets from Marble with 10:15 left in the game.
The Spartans trailed at the half for the first time at home all season, 38-33, after committing 12 turnovers and Northwestern hit 53.8 percent of their 3-point attempts (7-of-13).
The Wildcats used an early 8-0 run to take a 12-4 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Robbie Beran and Matthew Nicholson.
The Spartans used a 15-3 burst to take a 19-15 lead on a layup from sophomore center Mady Sissoko (Bafoulabe, Mali, West Africa/Wasatach Academy [Utah)) with 8:30 to play, but it was short-lived.
A 9-2 run from Northwestern over the span of a minute gave the Wildcats a 24-21 lead following a 3-pointer from Buie with 7:23 to play.
The teams went back-and-forth over the final minutes of the first half, with MSU taking a 32-31 lead after free throws from Marble with 2:37 to play but NU responded with a 7-0 run and went into the break ahead 38-33.

Key Stats

Michigan State committed 17 turnovers and Northwestern scored 16 points off turnovers.
The Spartans shot just 37.0 percent from the floor in the second half (10-of-27).
Northwestern out-rebounded Michigan State, 40-35, and had 17 offensive rebounds with 16 second-chance points.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 93-40, and has a 52-9 record at home against the Wildcats.
The MSU loss ended an eight-game home win streak and was Northwestern's first win at the Breslin Center since Jan. 21, 2009.
Northwestern collected 17 offensive rebounds, the most by an opponent this season and the most since Purdue had 19 in a 77-59 MSU win on Jan. 8, 2109.
MSU was out-rebounded (40-35) by Northwestern, just the third time this season being beaten on the boards.
Julius Marble scored a career-high 18 points, his fourth game in double figures this season and the sixth time in his career.
Gabe Brown finished with 10 points, his 16th game in double figures this year and the 34th of his career.
Malik Hall scored 10 points, his eighth game in double figures and the 16th of his career.

Up Next
Michigan State is off until next weekend, when the Spartans travel to play at Wisconsin on Friday, Jan. 21 (FS1, 9 p.m. ET).

Next Event

Team Stats

Julius Marble II

Malik Hall

Gabe Brown

Max Christie

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Mady Sissoko

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Mady Sissoko