In a record setting night at the Kohl Center, the Badgers defense arose to the occasion in arguably its best performance yet.
Driven by a stiff defensive effort from senior guard Michael Flowers, the UW men's basketball team topped Michigan State 57-42 Thursday night, winning a school-record 14th conference game to regain sole possession of first place in the Big Ten standings.
Flowers finished with nine points, but held senior guard Drew Neitzel to just three points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Tenacious,"" sophomore guard Trevon Hughes said, describing his teammate. ""He never stops, he just keeps going. He has a motor. I don't know, I think he feeds off of oil. He doesn't eat regular food. I'm praising my teammate because I want to play defense just like that.""
Hughes and the rest of the Badgers played defense at least close enough to Flowers' level as the Spartans' 42 points were the least amount of points UW has given up in Big Ten play this season.
Neitzel was not the only Spartan who struggled from the floor. UW junior guard Joe Krabbenhoft held MSU's top scorer, Raymar Morgan, to just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Michigan State had a good night defensively too, holding Wisconsin to just 39 percent shooting, but the Badgers hit the shots when they needed to, particularly in the last 7:43 when Wisconsin went on a 18-8 run to close the game. Senior forward Brian Butch, who hit 4-of-6 3-pointers in a night when he led all scorers with 16 points, nailed two shots from beyond the arc in that stretch.
""We had a couple missed assignments when Butch hit some of those threes,"" MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. ""I was disappointed because we had gone over that.""
Butch has now hit 15-of-25 3-pointers in the last nine games after hitting just three all season before that stretch.
Even more impressive on offense was Wisconsin's one turnover on the game, a school record.
""How many times do you see a game with a team with one turnover against a team that plays pretty good D and will get into your shorts? I've never coached in a game where that has happened,"" head coach Bo Ryan said.
Wisconsin led 28-22 at halftime, but the offense went dry in the second half as UW hit just three field goals in the first 12 minutes before going on the crucial 18-8 run. And it was that defensive minded guy who stepped up in the drought to keep Wisconsin ahead. Flowers scored all nine of his points in that stretch and then went back to shutting down Neitzel. At least Izzo was impressed.
""I think he's a much better 3-point shooter,"" the MSU head coach said. ""I think a year ago we used to sag off him and tell him to shoot. I think Flowers has really improved his game and he brings the tenacity defensively.""
The win keeps Wisconsin on pace to grab at least share the Big Ten title if they win its last two games.
""We are worried about the next one, but we do realize what's out there,"" Butch said. ""It was one of our goals when we started the season so we realize we have a great opportunity. We have two games left.""
UW needs some help though if they want to win it outright. Indiana travels to Michigan State Sunday and Purdue faces Ohio State on the road Tuesday.
Asked if he was going to watch Indiana's and Purdue's games, Ryan brought up one logistical complication.
""I don't have the Big Ten network so that's going to be a problem,"" he said.
For the record, the Indiana-Michigan State game is on CBS.
