Michigan State Spartans: Michigan State Takes Care of Northeastern

The Michigan State Spartans took care of business on the road against Northeastern, winning 78 – 58.

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis is not one to shy away from unique opportunities for his University’s teams. After dinner with Northeastern AD Patrick Roby, Hollis was sold on the chance to have his Michigan State Spartans in Boston.

The two agreed on a “Winter Showdown.” With the ice lying underneath the court in preparation for a night battle of the school’s Men’s Hockey teams, the Spartans faced off against the Huskies in an anticipated basketball event.

Coach Tom Izzo said before the game he would be shocked if it wasn’t a tough game and atmosphere, and he was right (for the first half).

It had been 20 years since historic Matthews Arena hosted a team as highly ranked as Michigan State, when #20 Duke beat NEU by 31 in 1995.

The Northeastern faithful made sure not to disappoint, packing the 5,066 seats in the Arena. The Arena was rocking early, with Northeastern leading 15-10 midway through the first half.

Northeastern was relentless on the boards early on, beating a good rebounding MSU team consistently for most of the first half. The Huskies struggled to hit from deep until David Walker connected with 12:13 left. Caleb Donnelly hit one on the next possession. Coach Bill Coen said the team would need to hit its threes to win games, but the Northeastern finished just 2-16 from deep, and 37.3% from the field overall.

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Northeastern averaged eight offensive rebounds per game coming in. They had nine of them with 11:30 left in the first half. The Michigan State Spartans went on a 7-0 run to take a 17-15 lead with 9:10 left. The Spartans closed on a 17-4 run towards the end of the first half, and led the Huskies 34-25 at the half.

Zach Staal had an impressive first half for Northeastern, playing strong defense, pulling four rebounds, and going 5-11 from the field with 10 points. He finished with 18 points for the contest.

Northeastern cut the lead down to six points at the beginning of the 2^nd half, but some sloppy passes from leading scorer David Walker led to points for Michigan State, and the Spartans soon stretched their lead to 18 with 13:08 left. Walker himself finished with 13 points and eight assists.

The Huskies seemed physically overmatched as the 2^nd half progressed. The Spartans began finding easier ways to score, and were able to keep Northeastern at bay for the duration of the game.

Denzel Valentine finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and six assists. He continues to have one of the more impressive seasons in recent memory for a Spartan.

Tum Tum Nairn Jr. showed why he is deserving of the role of a captain as a sophomore, leading the team up and down the floor on both offense and defense. He finished with 11 points and two steals.

Next: Utah Utes: Five Takeaways From Their Survival Victory over the Duke Blue Devils

Next up for the Huskies is a home matchup with the Catamounts of Vermont on December 22. The Spartans will do battle at Oakland on the 22^nd, before opening Big Ten play with a tough matchup at the hands of Iowa on December 29.