In a highly anticipated road matchup, No. 3 University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) fell to No. 1 Michigan State (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) 72-62 on the road Sunday, March 2, giving the Badgers their second loss in their last three games.
The Badgers started hot, amassing a 13-4 lead just five minutes in. After freshman guard Jase Richardson missed a 3-pointer with 14:45 left in the first half, redshirt freshman Jack Janicki grabbed the rebound and threw an outlet pass to graduate student John Tonje, who seemingly finished through contact for a bucket plus the foul.
Officials later waved off the bucket and the Badgers came up empty on the possession, leading to a fast break dunk for Michigan State sophomore Coen Carr.
This decision was the first big momentum swing in a back-and-forth first half as the Spartans tied the game just minutes later. The first half felt like a teaser for a March Madness game as nine lead changes and four ties before halftime gave Wisconsin a 34-32 lead entering the break.
Despite shooting sub-40% from the field and 20% from the 3-point range in the first half, head coach Greg Gard’s Badgers were fortunate to head into halftime with a lead.
Two impressive shots by sophomore John Blackwell in the closing minute of the half hinted at a possible big game, looking to build off of his double-double performance against Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
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The beginning of the second half was largely the same as both teams struggled to get any offense going in the back-and-forth affair.
Michigan State took a 48-45 lead on senior forward Frankie Fidler’s 3-pointer with 13:52 left in the game. From then on, the Badgers would fail to lead again, struggling mightily from beyond the arc, shooting just 5-for-32 on the day.
Wisconsin would cut the lead to 58-57 on sophomore Nolan Winter’s 3-pointer with 6:57 remaining, but two consecutive turnovers from star guards Tonje and Blackwell with back-to-back chances of regaining the lead encapsulated what was a frustrating night offensively from the Badgers.
The Spartans pulled away in the last few minutes to give them a huge 72-62 win over their Midwest rivals. This win puts the Spartans in possible contention for an NCAA tournament one-seed should they win the regular season Big Ten title.
Wisconsin on the other hand, looks to rebound on Wednesday against No. 13 Minnesota (15-14, 7-11 Big Ten), which has shocked a couple of ranked teams throughout the year, led by tough senior forward Dawson Garcia.
Should the Badgers beat Minnesota, they will take on No. 16 Penn State (15-15, 5-14) at the Kohl Center on Saturday to end the regular season with a chance to clinch a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Badgers hope to stay on course heading into March as this year’s squad may have their best chance of winning hardware since the historic 2015 Final Four team.