That was not the performance you wanted after your most recent Illinois win.
Wisconsin showed up ready to shoot – they hit back-to-back threes to start the game, but Coen Carr responded with a three-pointer and five points of his own. Michigan State followed that up with four consecutive misses by Jeremy Fears and Carson Cooper. Wisconsin hit their third three-pointer in the first four minutes and took an 11-7 lead at the first TV timeout with all seven MSU points coming from Carr.
Back-to-back jumpers
from Kur Teng along with a Carson Cooper floater helped MSU battle against the three-point barrage from the Badgers. Wisconsin would hold onto their lead heading into the second TV timeout 19-14.
That’s when the Badgers run started.
Nick Boyd came out of the break with an 8-0 run on his own, including two more made three-pointers for the Badgers. Austin Rapp would add in another before Coen Carr finally stopped the bleeding. It was a 13-0 run in between the second and third TV breaks. Wisconsin held a 32-14 lead with eight minutes left in the half.
Jeremy Fears was able to get his first points of the game at the 6-minute mark with a long ball at the top of the key. That shot seemed to inspire Jordan Scott who followed that up with two consecutive three-pointers of his own, with the second an off-the-dribble heat check that looked good as soon as he released it. Michigan State’s quick 9-0 run forced a Wisconsin timeout with a 36-27 Badger lead.
If it wasn’t clear that it was Wisconsin’s night from beyond the arc, they banked-in a three-pointer out of the timeout to push their lead above double-digits once again. Michigan State wouldn’t make their last six field goals for the last five minutes of the half and would only add seven more points from made free throws.
Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd had the hot hand for the entire first half as he would hit a 30-footer to give them a 51-34 heading into halftime. Boyd had 20 points and shot 4-for-5 from deep. It was a 15-7 Wisconsin run to end the half after MSU’s three consecutive made threes by Fears and Scott.
The Badgers shot 10-for-17 from beyond the arc and almost outscored the Spartans with their 10 made three-pointers alone. For context, Michigan State has only three of their 24 games so far this season where they made more than 10 threes – and that’s 40 minutes, not just this first half. Wisconsin was obviously shooting well above expected, but it’s hard to not get somewhat jealous looking at some of their players’ willingness to let it fly from deep.
Coen Carr led the way with 11 points while Jeremy Fears and Jordan Scott both added six. Carson Cooper had four points, and all seven of the bench’s points came from Kur Teng. Michigan State’s six turnovers and shooting 31% from the field contributed to their disappointed first half performance.
Carson Cooper would start it off for MSU in the second half with a floater in the lane, but Nick Boyd’s hot hand continued with an and-one layup over Jeremy Fears. Fears would force Boyd into a turnover shortly after and found Carr for a two-handed hammer in transition. Jaxon Kohler found his first points of the game with two jumpers, one from midrange and one from deep. Wisconsin took a 59-43 lead at the first TV timeout of the second half.
The hot Badgers shooting continued as they hit three consecutive three-pointers before the next commercial break. At the time, Wisconsin already had four different players with multiple made threes while Michigan State only had one (Scott, 3). Coen Carr led the way with 19 points for MSU at the 8-minute mark while the Badgers had a 78-58 lead.
Fears did his best to keep the team going, hitting back-to-back midrange jumpers before finding Teng for an open corner three. However, anything that they could find on offense, they couldn’t slow down on the defensive end. Wisconsin’s onslaught continued until the final buzzer as another fanbase would rush the court in a Michigan State loss as the Badgers would win 92-71.
Wisconsin shot 48% from the field and 43% from deep. Nick Boyd had 29 points and four assists while John Blackwell added 24 points. The two combined to make nine three-pointers while the entire Badgers team made 15 total. MSU hasn’t made more than 13 threes in a game all season.
Coen Carr led Michigan State in points with 19, followed up by Jeremy Fears with 14 points and 12 assists. Fears, Scott, and Teng combined to score 37 points on 36 shots – not great! There were only two MSU players who shot above 50%: Carr and Cam Ward, though, Ward was only 2-for-2.
Frankly, this team didn’t make enough shots – they shot 24-for-66 (36%) from the field and 8-for-27 (30%) from three. This team is now 0-4 when they shoot below 37% and 1-5 when they make less than 19 two-pointers. This rotation is full of players who score primarily inside and they’re going to struggle when those bounces aren’t falling their way.
Michigan State is now 1-3 in their last four games, even if that single victory was one hell of a basketball game in the Breslin Center. It’s best a Tom Izzo team gets punched in the mouth in February so they know how to counter when another punch heads their way in March. Even so, this has still been an unacceptable two weeks of Spartan basketball.
The Spartans will host the UCLA Bruins on Tuesday night as they look to get back into the win column.
Go Green.
