Ty Berry scored 22 points and Boo Buie had 19 points and 10 assists to lift Northwestern to an 88-74 victory against visiting Michigan State in Big Ten play on Sunday in Evanston, Ill.
Brooks Barnhizer (16 points), Ryan Langborg (12), and Luke Hunger (10) also finished in double figures as the Wildcats stopped the Spartans’ five-game winning streak.
Northwestern (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) rebounded from Tuesday’s 30-point loss at Illinois. Ball control boosted the Wildcats throughout the night, as the hosts dished 22 assists on 32 made field goals while committing just five turnovers.
Northwestern has earned three straight victories against Michigan State for the first time since 1961-62.
Tyson Walker paced the Spartans with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting. Jaden Akins (13 points), A.J. Hoggard (13), and Carson Cooper (10) followed. Hoggard had eight assists while Cooper snagged six rebounds.
Michigan State (9-6, 1-3) trailed by as many as 19. A 10-2 run midway through the second half brought the Spartans as close as 11, but Northwestern had an answer, maintaining a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Northwestern took control down the stretch of the first half. After the Spartans tied the game at 26 on an Akins putback of his own missed layup with 7:13 left before the break, the Wildcats scored 20 of the game’s next 25 points.
The spurt included an 8-0 Wildcats run over the last 1:19 of the half. Langborg and Berry connected on treys before Northwestern capitalized on a late offensive foul call against Michigan State.
Northwestern called timeout and got the ball to Buie, who drove through contact to hit a layup at the buzzer, putting the Wildcats ahead 46-31.
Berry led all scorers with 12 first-half points on 4-for-6 shooting. Walker had 11 points at the half for the Spartans, who shot 41.7 percent in the first 20 minutes compared to 54.1 percent for the Wildcats.
Buie’s double-double was the first of his career while Berry swished four treys. The Wildcats finished 9 of 23 from deep after starting the game 0-for-7.
–Field Level Media