Who’s Playing
Michigan State Spartans @ Northwestern Wildcats
Current Records: Michigan State 9-5, Northwestern 10-3
How To Watch
What to Know
Michigan State has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. The Michigan State Spartans and the Northwestern Wildcats will face off in a Big Ten battle at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Michigan State has been dominant on offense recently, as they’ve racked up an incredible 278 points over their last three contests.
Michigan State has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 20 points or more this season. They claimed a resounding 92-61 win over the Nittany Lions at home. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 51-26.
Tyson Walker and Malik Hall were among the main playmakers for Michigan State as the former scored 22 points along with six steals and five assists and the latter scored 24 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Hall continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he’s played. Trejuan Holloman was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with six assists.
Meanwhile, Northwestern unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a serious blow against the Fighting Illini, falling 96-66. Northwestern found out winning isn’t easy when your shooting is a whole 21.5% worse than the opposition.
The loss doesn’t tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ty Berry, who scored 14 points.
Northwestern struggled to work together and finished the game with only eight assists. That’s the fewest assists they’ve managed all season.
The Spartans are on a roll lately: they’ve won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. As for the Wildcats, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-3.
Sunday’s game is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Michigan State have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 37.5 rebounds per game. It’s a different story for Northwestern, though, as they’ve been averaging only 31.5 rebounds per game. Given Michigan State’s sizeable advantage in that area, Northwestern will need to find a way to close that gap.
Michigan State came up short against Northwestern in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, falling 70-63. Can Michigan State avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Series History
Michigan State has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Northwestern.
Dec 04, 2022 – Northwestern 70 vs. Michigan State 63Jan 15, 2022 – Northwestern 64 vs. Michigan State 62Jan 02, 2022 – Michigan State 73 vs. Northwestern 67Dec 20, 2020 – Northwestern 79 vs. Michigan State 65Jan 29, 2020 – Michigan State 79 vs. Northwestern 50Dec 18, 2019 – Michigan State 77 vs. Northwestern 72Jan 02, 2019 – Michigan State 81 vs. Northwestern 55Feb 17, 2018 – Michigan State 65 vs. Northwestern 60Dec 30, 2016 – Michigan State 61 vs. Northwestern 52Jan 28, 2016 – Michigan State 76 vs. Northwestern 45
