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E. LANSING, Mich. – Alex Murphy, T.J. Williams and Devon Begley combined for 51 points as the Northeastern men's basketball team took down Michigan State Sunday at the Breslin Center 81-73 for their fifth Power-5 road victory in the last four seasons.
 
The victory was Northeastern's fifth ever over a Big Ten school and first since another Bill Coen-led victory over Indiana on Dec. 22, 2008. The win was also Northeastern's first ever victory in the State of Michigan.
 
In the last four seasons Northeastern has defeated Power-5 opponents Georgetown (Nov. 21, 2013, 63-56, San Juan, Puerto Rico), Florida State (Nov. 18, 2014, 76-73, Tallahassee), Miami (Nov. 27, 2015, 78-77, Miami), UConn (Nov. 14, 2016, 64-61, Storrs) and Michigan State (Dec. 18, 2016, 81-73, E. Lansing) either on neutral sites or on their home turf.
 
Murphy finished the night with a team-high 18 points, nine of which came from behind the arc, while also adding six rebounds, two assists, two steals and one huge block. Williams finished with 17 points and nine rebounds while also dishing out four assists.
 
Begley finished the game with 16 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, just the 11^th Husky to ever be perfect from the free throw line with 10+ attempts in program history. Begley also dished out six assists, pulled in three rebounds and made two steals.
 
Michigan State was led by Cassius Winston who had a game-high 21 points and 10 assists.
 
The Spartans lost for the first time in a non-conference home game at the Breslin Center since a 71-64 OT loss to Texas Southern on Dec. 20, 2014. They were 5-0 at home this season entering tonight's game. It also marked Michigan State's first loss to a CAA school since a 75-65 loss to then-CAA program George Mason on March 17, 2006 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Michigan State put the first point on the board as Eron Harris started things off 1-of-2 from the free throw line but after a Murphy layup, Northeastern took a 2-1 lead and never relented in the first half, entering halftime with a 36-32 advantage.
 
Murphy, Jeremy Miller and Begley each tacked on a pair of treys as the Huskies used 50.0 percent shooting from behind the arc in the first half to claim the halftime advantage.
 
One of Murphy's treys fell with time expiring at the end of the first. Sajon Ford, who finished with two points, saw his bucket come at a pivotal time for the Huskies in the first half. His put back broke a 31-31 tie and then on the ensuing possession he pulled in another offensive board which set up Murphy's three before the half.
 
In the second half, both teams combined for nine fouls in the first four minutes of action as Michigan State chipped away at Northeastern's lead and took it's first lead of the ball game since the 18:34 mark on a Harris three pointer to go up 45-43 with 14:11 left in the half. The Spartans used a 10-2 run to take a 51-45 lead forcing Coen to call his first timeout of the half to settle the squad, and they did.
 
Coming out of the timeout, Northeastern erased the Spartans' lead in a matter of minutes and used a 10-2 run of its own to claim a 71-61 advantage with just over two minutes remaining in action, a lead the Huskies hung on to for the victory.
 
During the final two minutes of action, Begley went 6-for-6 from the line while Maxime Boursiquot added a pair of clutch free throws to help the Huskies hand on for the win.
 
Northeastern finished the game 20-of-24 at the line, while Michigan State went 16-for-26 from the charity stripe.   
                                                                                              
The Huskies will round out their non-conference schedule Tuesday night at Oakland University when they take on the Grizzlies at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.