Spartans secure double bye in B1G tournament, continue quest for regular season title
Wisconsin came into Breslin Center with a three game winning streak on MSU’s floor but were unable to make it four in a row today.
Prior to the game it was announced that Max Klesmit, a nearly 10 points per game scorer, would be out for Wisconsin with a lower leg injury. Kamari McGee would start in his place and the Badgers got off to a hot start despite Klesmit’s absence, building a 10-4 lead going into the first media timeout. Steven Crowl did most of the damage for Wisconsin, with seven points.
Wisconsin was content to fire from deep, hitting two of their first five with one of the misses being leading to an offensive rebound and putback. But, in the end, this strategy wouldn’t work as the Badgers suffered through a horrific shooting performance over the rest of the game.
Michigan State got a three from Richardson to start their scoring but otherwise tried to work it inside. Syzmon Zapala was called for traveling on MSU’s first possession and later Jaxon Kohler would miss one near the basket.
After a drive and one from Jack Janicki made it 13-4, Wisconsin, MSU got going and the crowd got into it with a much needed Tre Holloman to Coen Carr jam on the break.
Then it was time for Jaden Akins to break out of his seemingly season-long shooting slump. Two offensive rebounds from Kohler led to Akins’ first made 13 as MSU cut the deficit to 13-9. Akins’ next triple made it 15-12 and his third in a row tied it at 17. Jaden missed his heat check fourth attempt but rebounded his own miss and hit a mid-range jumper to give MSU its first lead at 19-17 with 11:40 to go.
Wisconsin would get the next four though, starting with an inbounds play to Carter Gilmore. Xavier Booker lost the ball on MSU’s next possession and John Tonje’s slam at the other end gave Wisconsin their seventh point off MSU turnovers and a 21-19 lead.
Booker responded with a three at the other end to give MSU the lead back and it went back and forth from there before MSU went cold. Wisconsin built a 30-25 lead and, copying other teams’ gameplans against MSU, employed some zone defense, a rarity for the Badgers.
A Fears to Cooper slam broke the zone and made it 30-27 with 3:59 to go. Next, Fears found Kohler in the lane to get MSU within one and then Akins’ fourth three put MSU 32-30. The Spartans gave up the next four though and went into halftime trailing 34-32.
Both teams struggled to shoot in the first half. Wisconsin, after a couple early makes, finished the half just 2-16 from beyond the arc. MSU, behind Akins’ four makes, went 6-19 but the Spartans shot only 31.6% from the floor overall.
To the frustration of Tom Izzo, and the Breslin crowd, Wisconsin had an edge from the free throw line, drawing ten fouls and making 8-10 from the free throw line to MSU’s 2-4. Jase Richardson had two of MSU’s fouls and played only five minutes in the first half while Coen Carr was also limited with two personals of his own.
MSU tightened up the ball handling and finished the half with only four turnovers while also collecting four giveaways from the Badgers. Wisconsin held a 7-1 advantage in points off turnovers. Despite their three not falling, Wisconsin was able to drive it inside effectively and maintained an 18-6 advantage in the paint in the first half.
Tonje led Wisconsin with nine points and Akins had 14 for MSU but no other Spartan had more than one field goal at the break.
After Blackwell put the Badgers up four to start the second half, MSU went on an 8-0 run to take a 40-36 lead. A couple of Kohler offensive rebounds leading to three second chance points and a Richardson transition three keyed the run for MSU.
A long three from Winter ended the Wisconsin drought and the MSU run to make it 40-39, MSU. Frankie Fidler would start to get things going for Michigan State from here, starting with a reverse layup after taking a pass from Carson Cooper.
Blackwell got around MSU’s defense and to the rim to make it 42-41 with 15:46 to go. Two more from Blackwell at the free throw line put Wisconsin up one but Richardson responded with a step back three. He got fouled in the process and was unable to convert the four point play but the Spartans were back up 45-43.
Carter Gilmore tied it for Wisconsin but then Fidler struck again with a trailing three to make it 48-45 Spartans. Frankie then built off that make by faking another three and taking it to the rim to give MSU its biggest lead at 50-45.
Crowl responded for Wisconsin and then an interesting sequence had MSU nearly turning the ball over and needing to inbound it from their own baseline with only 3.9 seconds on the shot clock. Everyone may have been thinking about Maryland and another Holloman heave but, instead, he took it the length of the floor for the lay-in to keep the MSU lead at five.
The Spartans were able to build the lead to eight points at 58-50 behind dunks from Akins and Cooper. Akins’ jam followed a steal and a great lead out pass from Richardson while nice interior passing led to Cooper’s flush and forced a Wisconsin timeout with 8:33 to go.
The timeout proved to be a good call for Wisconsin as they emerged from the break and went on a 7-0 run to get within a point. A LONG Wilner three capped the run for Badgers before MSU finally answered with two spectacular plays from Coen Carr. On the defensive end, Carr took it away from Tonje near the hoop, saved it before going out of bounds, then beat everyone down the floor for a massive jam, with his head above the rim.
A Holloman to Cooper lob would make it 62-58 Spartans and then a McGee floater in the lane got Wisconsin back within two at the under four break. A crucial sequence followed for the Spartans though.
MSU is clearly happy with the ball in Richardson’s hands in crunch and he didn’t disappoint here. Jase dribble penetrated the Wisconsin defense, sucked them in, and then found Kohler. Jaxon hit the layup, drew a foul, and converted the three point play to put MSU up 65-60 with 3:14 to go. That was followed by a Wisconsin throw away at the other end and the Badgers never really challenged again from there.
Another strong second half for MSU secured a double bye in the upcoming Big Ten tournament and eliminated Wisconsin from a chance at the regular season crown. It’s now just a two team race between the Spartans and Michigan.
Akins led MSU with 19 and Richardson had 11. While Jaxon Kohler struggled with some double teams, he still scored 10 and pulled down a career high 16 boards, including seven on the offensive end. Kohler’s efforts contributed to a 51-40 rebounding advantage for MSU.
Blackwell had 19 for Wisconsin but it took him 20 shots to get there. The Badgers finished just 5-32 on three pointers while MSU hit 9-27. The Spartans were able to finish the game shooting just under 40% but suffered through an uncharacteristic 6-13 performance at the free throw line.
The Spartans were much more effective inside in the second half and evened up the points in the paint battle at 32. Michigan State also got their run game going again and scored 20 off the break.
MSU may not need it, but let’s see if Illinois can give them help and take down Michigan in Ann Arbor.