Northwestern Wildcats (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten) at Michigan State Spartans (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten)
East Lansing, Michigan; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern faces No. 12 Michigan State after Nick Martinelli scored 26 points in Northwestern’s 84-78 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Spartans have gone 8-1 in home games. Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in team defense, giving up 64.4 points while holding opponents to 38.4% shooting.
The Wildcats are 0-3 in Big Ten play. Northwestern averages 80.4 points and has outscored opponents by 10.0 points per game.
Michigan State’s average of 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.9 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game Northwestern gives up. Northwestern averages 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.0 fewer made shots on average than the 8.2 per game Michigan State gives up.
The Spartans and Wildcats square off Thursday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jaxon Kohler is shooting 56.3% and averaging 14.2 points for the Spartans. Kur Teng is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Martinelli is scoring 23.0 points per game with 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Wildcats. Arrinten Page is averaging 13.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 54.4% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Spartans: 8-2, averaging 79.1 points, 39.4 rebounds, 18.5 assists, 5.7 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.9 points per game.
Wildcats: 4-6, averaging 78.8 points, 28.7 rebounds, 18.4 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.5 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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