Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from comeback win at Northwestern

Down 13 in the first half, Michigan State basketball battled back to beat a tough Northwestern team in Evanston. What’d we learn in this one?

Anyone else have major heartburn after watching Michigan State basketball squeak out a win over Northwestern in Evanston, 73-67?

Glad I’m not the only one because that was brutal.

From start to finish, the Spartans were just not on their ‘A’ game but they found a way to get it done and beat a pesky Northwestern team. But both sides have to be really frustrated with how the game was officiated because it was embarrassing for the Big Ten.

A 13-point road comeback is something to feel good about if you’re Michigan State, though, especially when the Spartans didn’t play well at all.

What’d we learn from this win?

3. Big Ten officiating is brutal

Let’s kick off these takeaways with a joint take. Big Ten refs are horrible. Like comically bad. And it was on full display on Sunday afternoon.

For about the last 10-15 minutes of the game, there was a foul call on every single possession on both ends of the floor. It was hard to watch and the conference should probably investigate a little further because these are the types of officiated games that the league wants to avoid. No one wants to see a non-overtime game last nearly two and a half hours. No one.

In 40 minutes, there were 49 total fouls called and a combined 63 free throws attempted. It was just an absolutely brutal game to watch.

And while there were some obvious fouls, there were calls on both sides that were pathetic like getting backed down on defense with hands in the air and being whistled. Or Joey Hauser getting elbowed in the face. Or again Hauser blocking a shot clean and getting called for a foul.

Bad day for the officiating — and for fans.