Fresh off a 92-90 overtime victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the Michigan State Spartans at home on Friday, looking to make a statement against another Top 10 team.
The Badgers had a thriller on the road against Illinois, hitting 16 threes at a 44 percent clip while the Illini shot 53 percent from the field and 45 percent from three. It was yet another double-digit comeback for the Badgers, who trailed by 12 with eight minutes left and somehow found a way
to chip away at the lead to force overtime.
John Blackwell and his mentality took over, as he was relentless with his attack, which set up the pick-and-roll kickouts to Austin Rapp later in the game as Illinois doubled off the screen. Nick Boyd bounced back from an ugly start to really get going in the second half, finishing with 25 points on 10 of 19 from the field.
And Austin Rapp had another strong effort, scoring 18 points with four threes, including a pair of clutch threes late in regulation. He ultimately closed the game, with Gard relying on his scoring punch, which proved to be a great decision.
Now, Wisconsin will turn the page to Michigan State, which has gone 20-4 this year and 10-3 in the Big Ten. Two of those losses recently came, with the Spartans losing back-to-back games against the Michigan Wolverines and Minnesota Gophers.
But they bounced back in a big way against Illinois, beating them 85-82 over the weekend, and now got a week of rest before this battle with the Badgers. Jeremy Fears Jr. has been great this year, averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 assists a game, and he just had 26 points and 11 assists in the win over Illinois.
Michigan State isn’t a one-man show, though. They’ve got four scorers averaging double figures and shoot fairly well (47.1 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from three).
Here’s how you can watch the game on Friday.
Date: Friday, February 13th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Channel: FOX
Arena: Kohl Center
Spread: Michigan State -2.5
Over/Under: 145.5 points
