MADISON, Wis. — Michigan State did some soul searching this week and when it hit the floor at the Kohl Center on Friday night, it delivered one of its best games of the season.
Behind some solid defense, some balanced scoring and a more typical Michigan State effort on the glass, No. 14 Michigan State knocked off No. 8 Wisconsin, 86-74, to bounce back from last weekend’s loss at home to Northwestern and take over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten ahead of Wisconsin and Illinois.
Malik Hall scored 14 to lead the Spartans (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) while Max Christie, A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker each scored 12. Jaden Akins chipped in 10 as Joey Hauser grabbed 11 rebounds, leading MSU to a dominating night on the glass, outrebounding the Badgers 39-20.
Brad Davison scored 22 for Wisconsin (15-3, 6-2) while Johnny Davis, the second-leading scorer in the Big Ten, managed 25 but was frustrated most of the game and shot 8 for 20 as Christie did a good job of bottling up the Badgers star.
What looked like a miserable start quickly turned around for the Spartans. Wisconsin came out quickly, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to take an 8-0 lead while Michigan State turned the ball over on four of its first six possessions. But thanks to a pair of triples – one from Bingham and one from Christie – the Spartans kept it close long enough to start to take over the game.
Thanks to some suffocating defense on Davis, Michigan State forced Wisconsin into tough shots for most of the half, including a 1-for-11 stretch that allowed the Spartans to take the lead, 12-11, on a jumper from Akins. It was all Michigan State from there as a 14-2 run left the Spartans ahead, 20-13, a lead that eventually ballooned to 38-21 after a triple from Christie and a jumper from the baseline by Hall.
Wisconsin got it back to 40-26 before Hall scored on another baseline jumper with a second to play to give Michigan State a 42-26 lead headed to the halftime locker room.
Davison did his best to pull Wisconsin back into the game to open the second half as the senior scored 10 points in a row for the Badgers, hitting a pair of 3-pointers along the way as Wisconsin was able to trim Michigan State’s lead to 56-45 with 12:34 to play on a drive and layup from Davis.
Michigan State extended the lead to 58-45 before the Badgers went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits for the time since late in the first half. The Spartans scored the next six, however, to push their lead to 65-52 with 8:02 to play. The lead went to 69-55 on a Walker layup before Wisconsin was able to pull within 73-62 on a Davis 3-pointer.
Davison did his best to keep Wisconsin alive, hitting a pair of 3s, the second to pull the Badgers within 79-70 with 1:32 left in the game. But Michigan State pulled away down the stretch, putting it away at the free-throw line.
Michigan State heads to Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini on Tuesday.
