Michigan State University
16-6,8-3Big Ten
Wisconsin
13-9,6-5Big Ten
Michigan State Falls Short on the Road at Wisconsin, 64-63
2/1/2020 3:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Madison, Wis. – Michigan State fell behind early, trailed by 16 points at halftime and pulled to within three points but couldn't forge ahead as the 14th-ranked Spartans lost to Wisconsin, 64-63, in a Big Ten Conference men's basketball game at the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored a game-high 23 points, handed out three assists and grabbed four rebounds to lead MSU, while freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) added a career-high 16 points. Junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) finished with seven points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
Records
Michigan State falls to 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin improves to 13-9 overall and 6-5 in league play.
Summary
- Michigan State had trailed by 16 points at halftime (43-27), but made a big run in the second half to pull within three points, 50-47, on a jumper from Winston with 11:22 left to play.
- Wisconsin pushed the lead back to 10 points, 57-47, but the Spartans made another run and pulled to within 61-57 on a 3-pointer from redshirt senior Kyle Ahrens (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) with 4:32 left.
- MSU turned the ball over twice and missed four shots on their next six possessions and D'Mitrick Trice hit three free throws in the final 40 seconds to push the lead to 64-57.
- Winston hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, but it was not enough.
- Trailing 43-27 at halftime, a basket from Tillman at 14:12 cut the Wisconsin lead to seven points, 48-41, and forced the Badgers to call a timeout after a 14-5 run over the opening 5:48 of the second half.
- Michigan State went into the half trailing by 16 points, 43-27, after allowing Wisconsin to shoot 57.7 percent from the floor (15-of-26), including 45.5 percent from 3-point land (5-of-11).
- The Badgers took a 10-point lead, 16-6, on a jumper from Aleem Ford at the 13:17 mark and forced MSU to call a timeout after Nate Reuvers hit a 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 26-11.
- The Spartans narrowed the gap to 40-27 after Watts hit the third of his 3-pointers, but another Pritzil shot from long distance gave the Badgers the 16-point cushion.
- Michigan State allowed Wisconsin to shoot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the first half, including 45.5 percent from 3-point land (5-of-11).
- The Spartans turned the ball over 12 times, including seven in the first half and Wisconsin scored 14 points off turnovers.
- MSU shot just 33.3 percent from the floor (11-of-33) in the first half and missed its first nine 3-point attempts.
- The Spartans connected on just 39.5 percent (15-of-38) of their two-point field goals.
- Wisconsin ended an eight-game losing streak to Michigan State.
- This was the Badgers' first win against Michigan State since Jan. 17, 2016.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series between the teams, 83-65, with Wisconsin holding a 47-26 edge in games in Madison.
- Michigan State is 1-5 when scoring less than 70 points.
- Winston scored a game-high 23 points, his 11th game this season with at least 20 points and the 34th of his career.
- He now has 1,794 career points and moved past Terry Furlow (1972-76) for eighth place all-time in scoring at MSU … He needs 58 points to pass Sam Vincent (1981-85) for seventh place.
- Winston has scored in double figures 18 times this season and led MSU in scoring 16 times this season.
- Winston handed out three assists, increasing his MSU and Big Ten all-time lead in that category to 834.
- Watts scored a career-high 16 points and hit a career-best four 3-pointers.
- Tillman grabbed 14 rebounds, his 13th game this season with at least 10 rebounds.
- Tillman also handed out five assists, the ninth time this season he has had at least four and the seventh time in the last nine games.
Up Next
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Tuesday, Feb. 5, hosting Penn State. Tipoff on BTN is slated for 8 p.m., with Dave Revsine, Robbie Hummel and Olivia Dekker calling all of the action.
