Northwestern upset puts Big Ten’s best on notice
Boo Buie scored a careerhigh 30 points and Northwestern beat Michigan State for the f irst time in almost a decade, topping the No. 4 Spartans 79- 65 on Sunday night.
Pete Nance added 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in Northwestern’s biggest win since its f irst NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. Freshman Ty Berry had 12 points in the Big Ten opener for each school, including three of the Wildcats’ 10 three- pointers.
“We’re trying to change the narrative on what everybody thinks about us, that we can’t finish, all this stuff,” Nance said.
Northwestern ( 4- 1, 1- 0 Big Ten) also scored its first win over a top- f ive team in the Associated Press poll since beating Magic Johnson and then- No. 4 Michigan State on Jan. 27, 1979.
The Spartans looked rusty in their f irst game in a week and just their second since Dec. 7. They were supposed to play Virginia on Dec. 9, but that game was postponed because of COVID- 19 issues.
Aaron Henry scored 11 points for Michigan State ( 6- 1, 0- 1), which shot 39%.
“One of the more inept performances of my 26 years,” coach Tom Izzo said.
Buie hit four foul shots and a three in the f inal two minutes to help close it out. The sophomore guard went nine for 15 from the f ield, including five for six on threes.
at No. 6 Houston 88, Alcorn State 55: Quentin Grimes had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Cougars ( 5- 0) overcame the absence of several key players including second- leading scorer Marcus Sasser and preseason American Athletic Conference player of the year Caleb Mills because of COVID- 19 and contact tracing protocols. Coach Kelvin Sampson and his son, assistant Kellen Sampson, returned after missing the previous game.
No. 9 Creighton 76, at Connecticut 74 ( OT): Christian Bishop scored 19 points and the Bluejays ( 6- 2, 2- 1) had a 9- 0 run in overtime to win in the Huskies’ f irst Big East game since March 2013. James Bouknight scored a career- high 40 points for the Huskies ( 3- 1) in their f irst game in 17 days because of coronavirus- related issues.
at No. 11 Texas 77, Oklahoma State 74: Freshman Greg Brown had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lift the Longhorns ( 7- 1, 1- 0) in their Big 12 opener.
at No. 19 Rutgers 91, No. 13 Illinois 88: Ron Harper Jr. scored 28 points, Jacob Young added 24 and the Scarlet Knights ( 6- 0, 2- 0 Big Ten) overcame a doubledigit, first- half deficit.