"Moore was unbelievable"
- MSU Coach Tom Izzo

If I were a betting man, heading into Thursday night's game, ignoring the line, I'd have to say I'd put my money on Michigan State.

It's not that I personally have anything against Northwestern; I'm actually a pretty big fan of theirs, I've been going to games on my Dad's dime since the Ricky Byrdsong era. But since I have been to so many games, I know that typically if Northwestern faces a team ranked #10 in the country, they will lose.

That said, the thing about being a Northwestern fan (obviously not in this article, given that I'm a professional, objective journalist first, fan second) is that you develop this sort of baseless optimism about the team. That someway, somehow, despite never making the NCAA tournament, the team can find a way to win every game it plays. I mean, the football team went to the Rose Bowl, after all. It's just a necessary development, otherwise you'll never be able to make it through a season without at least considering slitting your wrists.

So, I had hope for Thursday's game. Michigan State did lose 43 - 36 recently to a pretty bad Iowa team recently, after all.

And even if Michigan State did go up by 20 points in the first half, one's mind still twists the facts in such a way to see a way Northwestern can stage the comeback of all comebacks. It's the equivalent of a girl staying in an abusive relationship, telling her friends, "I love him, and I know in the future he'll change."

But he never does, and Northwestern didn't win Thursday either.

Thanks to the outstanding play of Junior Craig Moore, the 'Cats at least kept it close enough throughout to keep the game watchable. In the first half, Moore had 13 points on 5-8 shooting, including a 2 on 1 following a steal where he took an ill advised three ... and made it.

All the Northwestern players knew they were facing a tough matchup, but Moore was the only one who didn't let that intimidate him. Whatever the odds he was facing, he was going to be at his best and he was. For the game, he tied his own Northwestern school record, making seven three pointers. No matter how many points his team was down, time and again Moore kept fighting, making threes from so far beyond the arc he may as well have been shooting from Siberia.

MSU forward Raymar Morgan acknowledged as much afterwards, commenting on some sloppy stretches by his team,

"It's just a lack of focus," Morgan said. "We just underestimated them a bit in some of those stretches, and Moore did a great job."

Aside from Moore, despite being named the #6 NBA prospect in the Big Ten (1), Kevin Coble really didn't do much. He did score 17 points, but most came in the second half after the game was far out of reach. It is tough to be too hard on Kevin right now, though. He is still not in game shape, following his excused absence to care for his ailing mother.

Chicago native, second leading scorer and assist leader Michael (Don't get me mixed up with Juice Williams) "Juice" Thompson was completely shell shocked. It was probably the toughest competition Thompson had ever faced in his life, but that still doesn't excuse his scoreless performance. Thompson is one of the keys to the 'Cats future, but last night the team was better with him on the bench.

On Michigan State's end, their leader Raymar Morgan was their leading scorer with 23 points, and Senior point guard Drew Neitzel chipped in 20 points of his own. Speaking on Neitzel afterwards, Northwestern coach Bill Carmody remarked,

"I don't know if he's the heart and soul of the team, but you always have to be aware of him. Like a wide receiver you've got to double team, it leaves other guys open. I didn't want to do that and it showed."

All in all, it was a loss to build off of for the 'Cats. They were only down by ten at halftime and should've lost by much more than 16 given MSU made 60% of their shots, and the NU only took FOUR free throws. And as coach Izzo said, Moore had a game to tell his grandkids about.

This was a good step for a young, frankly bad, team heading into Sunday's winnable game in Champaign.

NOTES:

* Late in the game, Carmody finally gave sophomore guard Jeremy Nash some burn. He responded well, bringing a lot of energy to the floor and playing strong defense. Given that Northwestern has a lot of players with similar abilities, I think Nash deserves a longer look with extended minutes heading forward in the season. He does at least as much out there as Jeff Ryan, Mike Capocci or Jason Okrzesik. Given those three haven't won too many games in their extended minutes, I think it is time to see what Nash can do, given a chance to get into the rhythm of a game.

* It wasn't until far too late in the game that Carmody employed the full-court press. This led to multiple turnovers and disrupted the flow of Michigan State's offense. The press is a tactic far underutilized in today's game, and I think the 'Cats would be well served to use it more often.

More articles written by CS Sports Columnist Charlie Danoff

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