Michigan State basketball: Series history vs. Northwestern

Michigan State basketball has struggled against Northwestern in recent years but what does the series history look like?

Isn’t Big Ten basketball the best? Games come and go extremely fast so you don’t have to sit and twiddle your thumbs waiting for the next game. Michigan State basketball only has two days off before they travel to Illinois to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.

As this game inches closer, let’s take a look at the series history between these two programs.

MSU dominates Northwestern

The Spartans have a massive lead over the Wildcats in their all time series. These teams have faced off 128 times in their history and MSU leads the series 94-34. However, this matchup has been a struggle in recent years.

Northwestern is actually on a two-game winning streak in this matchup. Both wins came at the Breslin Center at the end of the 2021-22 and beginning of the 2022-23 season. However, even with the Wildcats having the upper hand recently, Michigan State still has won seven of the last 10 meetings.

In their one meeting last season, the Wildcats held on late to win 70-63. Boo Buie did Boo Buie things and led all scorers with 20 points. AJ Hoggard and Mady Sissoko led MSU scorers with 12 points each.

The Spartans cut the lead to one with a minute left, but it wasn’t enough as Northwestern hit their free throws late to close the game out.

Northwestern season update

Northwestern comes into this matchup with an impressive 10-3 (1-1) record. The Wildcats are no joke, as their record would suggest. They arguably have the best win in the country as they handed No. 1 Purdue their only loss of the season.

However, this Northwestern team has been pretty up and down this year. They lost a buy game to Chicago State and just lost to Illinois by 30 points in their last outing.

This is a crucial game for MSU. A six-game winning streak would be no joke and getting back to .500 in conference play is critical. This one won’t be easy, but Tom Izzo has his squad playing well and I think we have the better team. Our first road game since Dec. 10 could cause issues, but the Spartans’ senior leadership will be enough to lead us to victory.