No. 11 Michigan State Beats No. 20 Wisconsin, 67-59

Madison, Wis. – Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) hit a 3-pointer with 6:30 left to give No. 11 Michigan State the lead for good and the Spartans hit a pair of key baskets in the final two minutes to pull away for a 67-59 win over No. 20 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center Tuesday night.

Winston scored a game-high 23 points while adding six assists and six rebounds to lead Michigan State. Junior forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) added 12 points and nine rebounds and freshman forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) had eight points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

Records
Michigan State wins its second-straight game and improves to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten Conference, while Wisconsin falls to 17-8 overall and 9-5 in league play.

Summary

In a back-and-forth affair with 10 ties and 12 lead changes, Wisconsin tied the game at 53-all with 7:48 to play on a jumper from Ethan Happ.
Ward fed Winston at the top of the key for a 3-pointer with 6:30 on the clock, giving the Spartans the lead for good.
MSU led by one, 57-56, when Henry hit a pull-up jumper with 2:30 left to give MSU a three-point edge.
The score remained that way for nearly two minutes, when Goins hit a 3-pointer from the win, pushing MSU's lead to 62-56 and a three-point play from Ward with 15 seconds left made it 65-59.
Winston hit a pair of free throws to secure the final margin.
Wisconsin extended a 38-37 halftime lead to 43-37 early in the second half, but Michigan State used a 12-0 run to take a 49-43 lead on a 3-pointer from Goins with 14:30 left to play.
The Badgers tied the game up at 49-all and it was neck-and-neck from there.
Michigan State went into the half trailing 38-37, with 14 points from Winston leading the way.
It was a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes with seven ties and 11 lead changes.
The Spartans took their biggest lead at the 18:26 mark after baskets from Goins and Ward to start the game.
Wisconsin took its biggest lead, 32-25, on a dunk from Brandin Prtizil with 3:50 to play in the half, but MSU used an 11-2 run to take a 36-34 lead on a Winston 3-pointer before going into the break trailing by one.

Key Stats

Michigan State held Wisconsin to only 21 second-half points, as the Badgers hit only nine field goals.
The Spartans held a 42-28 advantage on the boards, collected 10 offensive rebounds and had 14 second chance points.
MSU scored 13 points on the fast break.
While Winston scored 14 points in the first half to lead the Spartans, Goins and Henry combined for 13 points and nine rebounds in the second half.

Notes

This was Michigan State's sixth-straight win over Wisconsin and the second on the road.
Michigan State now has won 20 games in eight-straight seasons under Head Coach Tom Izzo.
Izzo has 19 20-win seasons at Michigan State and has missed the plateau only once since 2003-04.
The Spartans have allowed 60 points or fewer nine times this season, including five times against Big Ten Conference opponents.
Michigan State has out-rebounded opponents 23 times this season.
The Spartans tied a season-low with 11 assists (at Rutgers, Nov. 30, 2018).
Winston led the team with six assists, his 21st game this season with at least six.
Winston led Michigan State in scoring for the 14th time this season.
He has scored at least 20 points 13 times this season, including 10 of the last 14 games.
This was his 24th game in double figures this season and the 57th of his career.
For his career, Winston has now scored 1,147 points in 105 games (12.1 per game). He is 39th all-time in scoring and needs nine more points to pass Lindsay Hairston (1972-75).
Goins scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and led the team in rebounding for the 16th time this season.
Ward scored in double figures for the 20th time this season and the 65th of his career.
His 12 points give him 1,304 for his career, a 13.7 per game average in 105 games, and he needs six more points to pass Branden Dawson (2011-15) for 26th place all-time.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home on Sunday, Feb. 17, hosting Ohio State at the Breslin Center. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. The game will air on CBS, with Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery calling all of the action.

Next Event

Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Kenny Goins

Nick Ward

Aaron Henry

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston