Northwestern holds on for massive upset vs. Michigan State following wild ending
Northwestern pulled it out in East Lansing, taking down No. 10 Michigan State for a wild win at the Breslin Center. When the final whistle eventually came, it was the shorthanded Wildcats that came away with the 64-62 win.
The final minute was a crazy one with Michigan State getting three chances to tie or net the game-winner. After getting the ball back with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Spartans initially mishandled the ball but were able to retain possession via a jump ball.
On the inbounds play, Michigan State found Malik Hall for a 3-point jumper. His shot bounced off the rim and Northwestern initially gained possession with a Robbie Beran rebound. Unfortunately, a traveling call gave the ball back to the Spartans with a second remaining.
This time, the Spartans tossed a lob to Marcus Bingham Jr. at the basket with Bingham fouled trying to catch the pass. That sent Bingham to the line for a 1-and-1, but he missed the front end and the clock finally ran out.
It snapped Michigan State’s 9-game winning streak:
No. 10 Michigan State had won nine in a row.@NUMensBball was without star Pete Nance.
The Wildcats just went into the Breslin Center and upset the Spartans. pic.twitter.com/k9GTNd9cet
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 15, 2022
Playing without Pete Nance, Northwestern was led by Ryan Young with 18 points. Chase Audige added 14 points.
Michigan State was led by Julius Marble II who scored a career-high 18 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting night off the bench. Star freshman Max Christie was held to 6 points on 1-for-8 shooting and he failed to make a 3-point bucket while going 0-for-5 from deep.
The loss drops the Spartans to 5-1 in conference play and brings them into a tie for 2nd place in the conference with Wisconsin. Illinois remains the only unbeaten team in B1G play at 6-0.