Northwestern (8-17, 2-12 B1G) travels to East Lansing to face No. 18 Michigan State (20-6, 9-6 B1G) with its Big Ten Tournament hopes on life support. Since winning two straight against Rutgers and Wisconsin, the ‘Cats have lost seven straight. That losing streak has included two double-digit road losses to Indiana and Penn State, who sit at 15th and 17th respectively in the 18-team Big Ten.
Head coach Joe McKeown’s side will likely need at two wins in its final four games to avoid a second-straight
season without postseason basketball, trailing Indiana by a game for the final spot in the Big Ten tournament.
Michigan State is undoubtedly the better basketball team, but the Spartans do have their flaws. While ranked in the top-20 nationally, Michigan State is a tier below the upper echelon of the Big Ten, recently losing by 20+ to both No. 2 UCLA and No. 6 Michigan. The Spartans also lost to Wisconsin by 14 back in December, and Northwestern beat the Badgers in mid-January.
Michigan State will also be without two of its five scorers averaging 1o or more points per game in Rashunda Jones and Theryn Hallock. Hallock hasn’t played since December, but Jones has featured in all 26 games for the Spartans and played 25 minutes in Michigan State’s loss to Michigan on Sunday.
Isaline Alexander, who averages 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds but hasn’t played since late December, is questionable.
Broadcast Information
Location: Breslin Center (East Lansing, Michigan)
Game Time: 5:30 p.m. CST
TV/Streaming: Big Ten+
Radio: WNUR Sports (89.3 FM)
Injury Report
Northwestern
OUT — No. 14 Sammy White, No. 11 Angelina Hodgens, No. 25 Lauren Trumpy (season), No. 3Claire Keswick (season)
QUESTIONABLE — NONE
Michigan State
OUT — No. 1 Rashunda Jones, No. 4 Theryn Hallock, No. 25 Anna Terrian, No. 23 Juliann Woodard
QUESTIONABLE — No. 12 Isaline Alexander
