The 'Cats drop to 0-4 in conference play after losing a second-half lead to the Spartans.
Four games into Big Ten play, Northwestern is still searching for its first win.
The Wildcats looked as though they might capture that elusive conference victory on Thursday night at the Breslin Center, but couldn't hold on to upset No. 12 Michigan State (14-2, 4-1 B1G). Despite leading at the half, Northwestern (8-7, 0-4 B1G) ultimately fell to the Spartans, 76-66.
Nick Martinelli's 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting and five rebounds paced the 'Cats. The Big Ten's leading scorer played 39 of a possible 40 minutes and was Northwestern's lone double-digit scorer. Jayden Reid had eight points, eight assists and four steals.
Behind Carson Cooper (18 points and nine rebounds), Jaxon Kohler (15 points and eight rebounds) and Jeremy Fears Jr. (15 points and five assists), the Spartans rallied from an eight-point deficit to their eventual 10-point victory. Michigan State scored 48 in the second half and outrebounded Northwestern, 42-25.
The Wildcats led for 18:33 — 34 seconds longer than the Spartans did.
Chris Collins cycled through his rotation early and often, keeping his players fresh with frequent substitutions. Northwestern received big minutes from freshmen Tre Singleton and Tyler Kropp to take a 17-13 lead in the first half.
Michigan State surged back in front, and an alley-oop from Fears to Cooper made it 28-24. The 'Cats refused to let the Spartans pull away, though, ending the half on an 11-0 run. Reid swiped the ball away from MSU guard Divine Ugochukwu with the clock winding down, then dropped a reverse layup in before the buzzer as Northwestern held a 35-28 advantage at the break.
The Wildcats' scoring struggles allowed Michigan State to crawl back into the game to start the second. Shortly after the under-12 timeout, Kohler knocked down a three-pointer to give his team its first lead in roughly 14 minutes of game time. Fears subsequently converted on a fading jumper as the shot clock expired, capping off a 10-0 Spartans run.
Coen Carr threw down a vicious windmill dunk to force Collins to call a timeout, with the Wildcats trailing, 52-47.
Tom Izzo's Spartans continued to pour it on in the second half. Michigan State dominated the glass on both ends, enabling the No. 12 team in the nation to extend its lead to double digits.
However, Northwestern managed to keep it close in the final minutes. The Wildcats made their free throws to cut it to 64-62, but ran out of gas in the end.
NU does not have many easy opportunities to get back on track. The 'Cats' upcoming schedule features a road game at Rutgers and home contests against No. 16 Illinois and No. 10 Nebraska over the next week.