EAST LANSING, Mich.—For the game's first 32 minutes, the Wisconsin men's basketball team (8-7 Big Ten, 17-10 overall) matched the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans' intensity in a hostile road atmosphere. But the Spartans owned the game's final 12 minutes with lockdown defense and aggressive inside play to defeat the Badgers by a score of 61-50.
Wisconsin came out strong in the first half, continuing the defensive intensity that had helped the Badgers pull off their previous five-game winning streak. In the period, Wisconsin scored 12 points off 10 Michigan State turnovers.
Leading this defensive attack was junior guard Trévon Hughes, who finished the half with 10 points and three steals. The Badgers extended their led to 10 with less than seven minutes remaining in the first, but then the Spartans fought back and trimmed the lead to 31-25 going into the break.
In the second half, the teams battled back and forth until the Badgers broke through with back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 41-29 lead with 12:26 remaining. After a timeout, the Spartans would take matters into their own hands.
Michigan State rattled off eight straight points, but the Badgers still held on to a slim lead with some free throws. The Spartans clawed back with several second-chance opportunities to tie the score at 45 with five minutes left. And from there the Badgers fell apart, as the Spartans hit back-to-back threes to open up a 55-47 lead. The Spartans took advantage of Wisconsin's two field goals in the game's final 12 minutes to secure the victory.
Michigan State sophomore guard Kalin Lucas led all scorers with 17 points, and Hughes was the high-scorer for the Badgers with 12.
Wisconsin lost its lead inside, as Michigan State finished with a 32-16 scoring advantage in the paint. The Badgers also struggled on the glass, surrendering 10 second-chance points in the second half alone. After the game, senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft emphasized the impact that Michigan State's rebounding had on the game's final outcome.
""The key to winning games is offensive rebounds,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""Today that's the case—they get offensive rebounds, they get three-point plays, they get an extra 35 seconds on the shot clock, all about them winning this game.""
Senior center Goran Suton was a huge contributor inside for the Spartans. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said the play of Suton and other Spartans in the paint created the dramatic turnaround.
""We did a lot better job the second half getting it inside, and it made a big difference,"" Izzo said. ""We came out of some timeouts in that second half, late in that game, and we executed to perfection. I don't know why we weren't doing that earlier, maybe we need more timeouts. But G [Suton] was a big part of that.""
Before the game's final 12 minutes, the Badgers had been able to respond to the Spartans' bursts of energy behind their enthusiastic home crowd. But the Badgers ultimately fell apart when they needed it most. UW head coach Bo Ryan said Wisconsin's failure to adequately respond to this final run was bound to come back and bite them in the long run.
""When it started, we just didn't answer very well,"" Ryan said. ""The best way to do that is to get something around the basket, get something to quiet the crowd … We don't finish on some of those shots, that gives them the advantage at the other end. And that's how you get in trouble.""
