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No. 14 Michigan State used a dominant first half to take a decisive lead over No. 8 Wisconsin, then held off a Badgers rally to secure an 86-74 road victory on Friday night. The Spartans (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) secured sole possession of first place in the league standings with the win after Illinois’ loss to Maryland earlier in the evening.
The Badgers (15-3, 6-2) had won seven straight and 13 of their last 14 game starts and were promoted to the projected No. 1 seed line for the NCAA Tournament in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology a few hours before defeat. But with junior forward Tyler Wahl out with an ankle injury after averaging 17.8 points in his last four games, the Badgers have struggled to keep pace with a Spartans team. who pulls hard.
Michigan State shot 57% from the floor in the first half while taking a 42-26 lead, then regained momentum after Johnny Davis made a layup with 10:11 to bring the Badgers to 58 -52. Spartans coach Tom Izzo called a timeout after Davis’ bucket, and his team quickly went on a 7-0 run to suck the life out of a sold-out Kohl Center.
The win marks Michigan State’s third Quad 1 victory of the season, but the first two came nearly two months ago against Loyola Chicago and UConn in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Since then, the Spartans have cut their teeth against manageable competition before seeing a nine-game winning streak against Northwestern last Saturday. Knocking the Badgers down on the road serves as validation of their legitimacy as Big Ten title contenders.
Malik Hall led Michigan State with 14 points, while AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Max Christie each contributed 12 points. Davis led the Badgers with 25 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while Brad Davison added 22. The Michigan State bench outscored the Wisconsin bench 43-7.
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