No. 24 Wisconsin 60, No. 8 Michigan State 58: Nigel Hayes scored 14 points off the bench and Traevon Jackson hit the tiebreaking jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining as the Badgers downed the Spartans to end their three-game home losing streak.
Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser added 11 points apiece for Wisconsin (19-5, 6-5 Big Ten), which also stopped its five-game slide against Michigan State (20-4, 9-2). Frank Kaminsky contributed 10 points as the Badgers avoided their first four-game home skid since January 1987.
Adreian Payne finished with 24 points in his second game back following a seven-game absence due to a foot injury to lead the Spartans, who dropped their first true road contest in seven tries and fell back into a first-place tie atop the conference with Michigan. Travis Trice had 13 points and was the only other player to score in double figures for Michigan State.
Despite matching its season average of eight turnovers with 6 ½ minutes left in the first half, Wisconsin did not commit another miscue before intermission and closed with an 11-0 burst to take a 30-22 lead. Michigan State fired back with a 9-2 surge out of the break following two dunks from Gary Harris, but the Badgers responded with 11 of the next 13 points to take their biggest lead of the game at 44-33 with 13:17 left.
Payne brought Michigan State back with a pair of three-point plays as the Spartans closed within two near the eight-minute mark, but they could not get over the hump as Gasser, Kaminsky and Ben Brust each drained a 3-pointer to make it 55-48 with 3:35 to go. The Spartans managed to knot it at 58 following a 3-pointer from Payne with 12 seconds left, but it proved to be for naught when Jackson dribbled the length of the court and hit a pull-up 15-footer.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Payne became the 44th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points. … Wisconsin, which had dropped eight of its previous 10 meetings with the Spartans, matched a season high by committing 14 turnovers. … Michigan State PG Keith Appling missed his second straight game with a wrist injury.
Michigan St | Wisconsin | |
Adreian Payne 24 | Scoring | Nigel Hayes 14 |
Denzel Valentine 3 | Assists | Traevon Jackson 8 |
Denzel Valentine 9 | Rebounds | Josh Gasser 6 |
Adreian Payne 4 | Free Throws Made | Nigel Hayes 8 |
Gary Harris 3 | Steals | Sam Dekker 2 |
Matt Costello 1 | Blocks | Frank Kaminsky 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Michigan St | 58 | 40.0 | 5-19 | 5-9 | 9 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
Wisconsin | 60 | 45.2 | 9-23 | 13-20 | 10 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 14 |