Despite the win, I feel that turnovers were once again this key take away from this match-up between the Spartans and the Wildcats. The stats were actually pretty close going into halftime and Michigan State had a ten point lead at that time.
Things went a bit off the rails in the second half. The Spartans ended the game with 16 turnovers vs. half that by Northwestern. That is at least 16 potential points they basically gave away to the opponent. In an amazing coincidence, both teams had a total of 61 two point shots with MSU sinking 28 of them vs. the Wildcats 26. Additionally, they both had 21 three point shot attempts and converted on 9 of those. Both teams! Michigan State edged out Northwestern by one free throw and that was the five point difference in the outcome of the game.
I can't complain about the Spartans rebounding, they did phenomenal with 48 defensive rebounds vs. the Wildcats 24. They also had 14 offensive rebounds vs 4 from their opponent. Northwestern was able to steal the ball 8 times so they obviously need to work on some ball protection. This should have been a fairly easy win for this team, but they once again made it a nail biter with their sloppy play.
The total score was 149 and @funshel had the closest guess at 148, pretty impressive!
In other news, there were two big upsets last night in the world of Division 1 college hoops. #21 Tennessee fell to unranked Cincinnati 66 to 78. It was a home game for Cincy and they usually make it to the tournament in March, so I have a feeling we haven't heard the last from this Southern Ohio team.
Sorry @patrickulrich, but the second big upset was Utah beating #6 Kentucky 66 to 69. After seeing that score I kind of wish I had watched this game. According to the stats it looks like turnovers and defensive rebounds are something that Kentucky will have to work on going into their next game.
I missed the game last night too. The game didn't get started till 11:00 p.m. eastern time so I was long asleep. Luckily I have a recorded copy I plan to watch tonight.
I had said coming into this season that this was going to be a special team. Now I'm starting to wonder if the special means something else.
Oh crap, I hope I didn't ruin it for you. I even questioned whether or not I should say anything or tag you just in case...
No not at all. I checked it first thing when I woke up and started my day with disappointment. 😂
I know that feeling!
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