'Cats come close, but can't get past Mich. St.
Sometimes it's difficult to pinpoint when John Shurna's high left ankle sprain affects Northwestern's chances.
But with the game on the line and seconds to play Monday night, it became painfully obvious.
After the Wildcats reeled off 12 points in a row to cut Michigan State's lead to 1 and breathe life into Welsh-Ryan Arena, Spartans senior Kalin Lucas went to the line with 13.7 seconds left.
His free throw rolled off, but MSU's Draymond Green rose above the hobbled Shurna for the rebound and putback.
Northwestern couldn't get a good shot thereafter, and the No. 18 Spartans escaped with a 65-62 Big Ten victory before an overflow crowd in Evanston.
Green led the Spartans (10-4, 2-0) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Drew Crawford led Northwestern (9-3, 0-2) with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Shurna shot 1 of 11 from the floor for his second straight season-low 11-point effort since injuring his ankle with NU leading Mount St. Mary's by 33 on Dec. 23.
“What stands out is I gave up that rebound,” Shurna said. “He got it. I didn't. The game was on the line. Gotta get that ball.”
With 3:11 to go, there seemed little chance anything in the final seconds would matter. After holding Northwestern to 1 basket in a 10-minute stretch, Michigan State owned a 63-52 lead with Korie Lucious headed to the line.
But Lucious missed the front end of the 1-and-1, and the Wildcats proceeded to go crazy.
“Juice kind of put the team on his shoulders and willed us back into the game,” Crawford said.
Senior guard Juice Thompson triggered the 12-0 run in a 2:23 stretch as he drove the lane and threw in a floater.
He blazed past Green for a fastbreak layup. He drove and kicked back to Davide Curletti for an open 3-pointer at the top of the key.
Then, after Green leapt over Shurna for 2 more offensive rebounds and missed a 1-and-1, Thompson pulled up for a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 63-60 with 1:10 left.
After Curletti took a charge from Green, Thompson scored a backdoor layup on a feed from Alex Marcotullio.
Suddenly, inexplicably, it was 63-62 with :28.2 to go.
That's when Green's nose for the glass stunted Northwestern's rally.
After Green's putback, Thompson tried a tough 3 that didn't have a chance.
The Wildcats regained possession with nine-tenths of a second left. After a pair of timeouts, NU's inbounds pass found Crawford inside the arc for a futile 19-footer.
“Well, I think it's going to be one of those years for us where nothing's going to be easy,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. “I'm not going to let two (bad) minutes ruin 38 minutes.”
NU coach Bill Carmody can't wait until he again gets 38 good minutes from Shurna — and Izzo understands why.
“Watching him move early in the year and watching him move the last two games, I don't think he's quite there,” Izzo said. “And they need him. He's their best player.”