EAST LANSING, Mich. — Days after getting run off the floor at Rutgers, Michigan State responded by returning home and producing one of its worst offensive performances of the season.
The Spartans made just four of their first 20 shots as No. 14 Wisconsin took advantage, slugging its way to a 70-62 victory over No. 17 Michigan State Tuesday at the Breslin Center, handing Michigan State its second straight loss. It’s the first time this season the Spartans have lost back-to-back games.
Wisconsin wasn’t great offensively but it didn’t need to be, getting 25 points from Johnny Davis, 11 from Chucky Hepburn and 10 from Tyler Wahl as the Badgers (19-4, 10-3 Big Ten) put the clamps on Michigan State the entire game.
The Spartans (17-6, 8-4) could be watching their Big Ten title hopes disappear as they’ve lost three of five. Against the Badgers, the offense was a mess most of the game as they could not overcome a brutal first half. A second-half surge got Michigan State within one, but it didn’t last as Wisconsin pulled away.
Marcus Bingham Jr. scored 15 for Michigan State while Malik Hall added 12 as the Spartans finished 3-for-14 from 3-point range with all three makes coming in the second half. The Spartans finished 22-for-53 for the game.
Michigan State’s offense struggled from the outset as the Spartans made just two of their first 12 shots, going just more than three minutes between their first made basket – a running jumper from Joey Hauser at the 16:40 mark – and the second bucket – a Bingham layup at 13:15 that included a free throw after he was fouled.
The shot from Bingham was followed by a five minute, eight second drought quelled only by a few free throws as Michigan State made just four of its first 20 shots.
Lost in the offensive misery was a solid defensive start, but that, too, began to wane as the Spartans turned it over seven times and gave up four offensive rebounds. The Badgers took advantage, taking their biggest lead, 29-21, on back-to-back 3-pointers from Lorne Bowman II and Chucky Hepburn. Bingham hit a contested jumper at the buzzer to pull Michigan State within 29-23 at halftime.
Michigan State’s woes continued in the second half as it missed its first four shots while Wisconsin pushed its lead to 35-25 after a 3-pointer from Davison. The Spartans finally showed some life at that point as Hall and Gabe Brown made back-to-back 3-pointer to pull the Spartans within 37-31, but two Davis free throws quickly had the Wisconsin lead back to eight.
The Spartans later cut the Badgers lead to 45-44 on a put-back from Hauser, but Wisconsin responded by pushing the lead to 55-49 on a 3-pointer from Davison and eventually put the game away minutes later when the lead grew to 61-51 with less than two minutes to play, essentially ending any MSU comeback hopes.
