EVANSTON, Ill. - Gary Harris sees the victories piling up for No. 4 Michigan State. What he doesn’t see is a finished product.
The Spartans hardly looked like one against Northwestern on Wednesday night. They still prevailed 54-40, with Harris scoring 14 points to lead them to their ninth consecutive victory.
“We know that we weren’t playing as well as we can offensively,” Harris said. “We had to do something defensively to kind of get us going. Get stops and get the lead. That’s what we did. That’s how we pulled away from them.”
The preseason favorite to win the Big Ten, the Spartans (16-1, 5-0) continue to roll along, although it was hardly an easy night for them. They overcame a sluggish start and pulled away down the stretch even though they struggled in a big way from the outside.
They were 2 of 16 on three-pointers with six air balls, by Coach Tom Izzo’s count. Harris missed all six from long range and Keith Appling was 0 for 3.
Harris did have four steals, and Appling managed to score 11 points.
Branden Dawson, fighting an illness, had 11 rebounds and three blocks, and the Spartans came away with the victory even though they were missing one of their top players in Adreian Payne. The 6-foot-10 forward sat out his second consecutive game because of a sprained right foot and will have more X-rays on Friday.
“Frustrating for him,” Izzo said. “Although I have to admit he actually had better suggestions on the bench than he had in the games. I appreciated him as an assistant. I thought he did a good job in the huddles, and sometimes guys grow when they don’t play. They appreciate playing.”
Izzo said Payne spoke in the locker room afterward.
“That kid’s grown up so much. It’s been a good year for him,” Izzo added.
Tre Demps did his best to keep Northwestern (8-10, 1-4) in the game, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half. But leading scorer Drew Crawford never got going. He managed just six points with Denzel Valentine guarding him most of the game.
NO. 9 OKLAHOMA STATE 82, TCU 50
STILLWATER, Okla. - Marcus Smart scored 20 points to help No. 9 Oklahoma State defeat TCU.
Smart, the reigning Big 12 player of the week, also had eight rebounds and five assists for the Cowboys (15-2, 3-1).
Markel Brown scored 14 points and Le’Bryan Nash added 13 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma State, which needed to win to stay within range of Big 12 leader Kansas. The 15th-ranked Jayhawks host the Cowboys on Saturday.
Karviar Shepherd scored 13 points and Amric Fields and Michael Williams each added 11 for the Horned Frogs (9-7, 0-4) in their most lopsided loss of the season.
TEXAS TECH 82, NO. 12 BAYLOR 72
LUBBOCK, Texas - Jaye Crockett had 19 points, Toddrick Gotcher added 17 and Texas Tech (9-8, 1-3) beat No. 12 Baylor (13-3, 1-2) for its first Big 12 victory of the season.
Dejan Kravic and Robert Turner scored 14 apiece for the Red Raiders, who ended a four-game slide against Baylor in Lubbock.
Texas Tech led all the way and held off a late comeback attempt by the Bears after they pulled to 76-66 on a three-pointer by Taurean Prince with 2:02 left. That was the closest Baylor had been since late in the first half, but it got no closer down the stretch.
Kenny Chery scored 22 points and Prince had 13 for the Bears. They finished with only six assists, a season low for a team averaging 16.3.
In other Top 25 men’s games, Chaz Williams had 26 points and eight assists, Derrick Gordon made a go-ahead layup with 8 seconds remaining and No. 16 Massachusetts (15-1, 3-0) beat George Mason (7-10, 0-3) 88-87 in Fairfax, Va. ... Dwayne Evans scored 18 points and No. 24 Saint Louis (16-2, 3-0) won its first game since breaking into the Top 25 for the first time, holding off St. Bonaventure (11-6, 1-2) 66-60 in St. Louis.
Sports, Pages 22 on 01/16/2014