Cats lead by 15 at the break, 46-31
Cats win 88-74, their 3rd straight win against MSU, the last time that happened was in 1959-1962.
I did see one set of rankings this morning having the Cats back at # 25
One side note for Chicago Bear fans is that the Commanders fired Ron Riveria today
Harry
Good dominant win at home. It is unclear how good the MSU team is currently, but Izzo will have them ready by tournament time. Cats did a great job of neutralizing MSU’s Mailk Hall with aggressive double teams to get the ball out of his hands.
Cats also played an almost perfect game. 54.2% from the floor. 15/18 from the FT line. 22 assists to 4 turnovers and turned MSU over 13 times. Every starter in double digits led by Berry with 22. The only NU player who struggled was Nicholson who got into foul trouble early, but even he played great defense down the stretch when MSU made their last push.
IMHO, what was great about this game is that the cats never wobbled. They played great defense the whole game. MSU made their last run on a couple of transition buckets and some full court pressure, but NU didn’t lose their poise. They continued to play good half court defense, force MSU to take contested shots, and ran their offense which put a lot of pressure on MSU in the paint. In years past we’ve seen NU’s challenges with holding a lead late in games. They run the shot clock down and then take a low percentage shot, lose the rebound, and the other team makes an easy transition basket. This year we’ve got players to can score off the dribble, draw the foul, or kick out to a shooter who can make an open three.
Now our Cats need to prove that they can take this solid game plan on the road and win against a Penn State team that has given NU teams fits in the past.
BTW, Wisky also had a great game against the beefers shooting 59% from the floor and 50% from three. They are ranked at 21. NU visit Madison next Saturday.
Jeff
Yes, but…
The Cats’ NET ranking, which the NCAA counts, is 71. And the Cats almost always have problems with Penn State!
Not sure that a win on the road at Penn State is going to help our NET rating, but it would help demonstrate that the team this year IS different from years past.
A win on the road against Wisky however, is a different story. 
Jeff
A win at Penn State might not help their NET rating, but a loss would hurt it.
Wisconsin was hitting shots from everywhere against Nebraska, which shot about 31% in the first half. That improved in the 2nd half, but the game was out of reach.
@ PSU is Q2 which still would strengthen our schedule. Only home games vs. the dregs of the conference would be neutral or potential hurt us.
As we aren’t a high seed potential team if we are competitive in the first 2 quads we are okay, but losing in the last 2 quads really damage us.
Not to change the subject, but I believe McGarigle as DC is a good choice; shocked Tim is 2 years older than Braun. Lujan as OC is expected as both Maureen and I thought he would trawl the FCS ranks as those are the devils Braun knows.
The basketball team will rise and fall with Ty Berry.
He’s like the little girl with curls.
When he’s good — when he scores 22 — we win.
When he’s off — ugh.