Michigan State Basketball: Report card for home thumping of Northwestern

Northwestern didn’t stand much of a chance against Michigan State basketball on Wednesday night. Which Spartans graded the highest in the win?

Tom Izzo warned his team about not getting up for lesser opponents and what kind of effect that can have and Michigan State responded by getting out to a 16-2 lead in the opening minutes over last-place Northwestern on Wednesday night.

While that was exactly what the head coach wanted to see, it was short-lived as the Wildcats pieced together a 13-2 run and got right back into the game near the end of the first half.

Michigan State bounced back to regain an 11-point lead at halftime thanks to some life breathed into the lineup by a returning Kyle Ahrens as well as some bench production from Foster Loyer. They continued that momentum into the second half and built the lead up to 35 before the Wildcats hit some shots late to get the final difference under 30.

If you’re Michigan State, you have to feel good about a 16-5 record heading into a road game on Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin who just lost Kobe King who left the program and Brad Davison who was suspended for the game by the Big Ten.

Needing confidence before hitting the road again, this is the exact type of performance Michigan State had to have even though it didn’t play its best basketball. Winning by 29 points while not playing all that well can actually do wonders for a team’s confidence.

What did the final grades look like from Wednesday’s beatdown?