Wisconsin senior forward Brian Butch made four 3-pointers. Michigan State senior guard Drew Neitzel made one.
That alone told the whole story, as the Badgers defeated the Spartans 57-42 Thursday night at the Kohl Center.
No. 9 Wisconsin (14-2 Big Ten, 24-4 overall) entered the game leading the conference in scoring defense, and clamped down on No. 15 MSU’s top two scorers from the opening tip.
Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan, who had averaged 15.2 points per contest, only tallied seven, and Neitzel scored a season-low three points. Neither player scored in the first half.
Michigan State (10-5, 22-6) had not scored less than 50 points since a 43-36 loss at Iowa on Jan. 12.
“Our two best players didn’t make shots,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “[Wisconsin] did a good job defensively, but we had some open looks too.”
In two regular season games against Wisconsin last season, Neitzel averaged 25 points. This time however, senior guard Michael Flowers seemed to be attached to MSU’s sharp-shooter, following him around multiple screens throughout the game. Neitzel did not score his first basket until after the 10-minute mark in the second half.
Sophomore guard Trevon Hughes praised his backcourt teammate for his relentless effort.
“It’s amazing,” Hughes said. “He never stops. He just keeps going. He’s got a motor. I think he feeds off of oil.”
“I want to play defense just like him,” Hughes added.
Junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft also played tough defense against Morgan, who made his first basket on the Spartans’ first possession of the second half.
“Joe’s our warrior,” junior forward Marcus Landry said. “Morgan is a great player … we put Joe on him, and he did a great job on him.”
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said he was pleased with his team’s defensive effort, but also noted that Neitzel did not have his usual shooting touch.
“It seemed to me they had some good looks that weren’t going down, and we weren’t going to ask why when we were playing,” Ryan said. “We know how well Neitzel can shoot the ball … sometimes you just have these types of games.”
Izzo credited Flowers for playing great defense but also said Neitzel did not take advantage of the open looks he had.
“There were some good shots for him at the top of the key and a couple that he should have just pulled up on,” Izzo said.
For the fourth consecutive game Wisconsin held its opponent under 60 points. Thursday marked the 11th time in the Badgers’ 16 conference games that an opponent did not reach the 60-point mark.
Although UW’s offense struggled at times Thursday night, Butch stressed how Wisconsin’s defense could keep them in any game against any team.
“Offensively you can get stuck sometimes, and there’ll be things that just aren’t going your way,” Butch said. “But if you keep the other team from not scoring you can be in any ball game.
“Even if it’s a 14-10 game or whatever it is, as long as you’re playing defense and getting stops, you have a chance in any game.”
