Spartans Fall to Wisconsin in Big Ten Opener, 70-57

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State fell behind by 11 points at halftime and cut the lead to three points in the second half, but No. 23 Wisconsin used a 9-0 run to pull away en route to a 70-57 win over the Spartans at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night.

Graduate guard Tyson Walker scored a game-high 22 points and had four rebounds and two steals to lead the Spartans, while senior guard A.J. Hoggard finished with 14 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Records
Michigan State falls to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while Wisconsin improves to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.

Recap

After trailing by 11 points (34-23) at the break and 13 points early in the second half (40-27), the Spartans used a 17-9 run near the midpoint of the half to cut the Wisconsin lead to three points, 49-46, on a 3-pointer from Walker with 12:55 left.
Michigan State trailed 54-50 following a jumper from freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. with 8:28 left, but the Badgers responded with a 9-0 run to make it 63-50 on a layup from Tyler Wahl with 4:21 left in the game.
Trailing 34-23 at the break, Wisconsin extended its lead to 40-27 two minutes into the second half on a jumper from Steven Crowl.
That's when Walker took over for the Spartans, hitting a layup to cut it to 40-29 and triggering a 17-9 run over a span of 3:58 as MSU pulled to within three points, 49-46, on the third of three 3-pointers from the fifth-year guard.
The lead was still three points, 51-48, when Hoggard hit two free throws with 11:21 left and the layup from Fears made it 54-50 before the Badgers made their decisive run.
The Spartans went nearly five minutes without a field goal until Walker hit a basket with 3:38 to play making it 63-52.
The Badgers led from start to finish and took an early 9-2 lead after two 3-pointers from Crowl and one from Chucky Hepburn.
Wisconsin took its biggest lead of the half, 20-8, on a jumper from AJ Storr with 10:30 to play before MSU went on a 15-8 run and pulled to within 28-23 on a jumper from Hoggard with 2:26 left.
Crowl and Storr hit 3-pointers in the final 1:35 to push the lead back to 11 points, 34-23.

Key Stats

Michigan State was out-rebounded by Wisconsin, 36-22, the Badgers collected 11 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points.
The Spartans committed seven turnovers in the first half and Wisconsin scored 12 points off those.
The Badgers hit 100 percent of their free throws (14-of-14).

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 86-68, including a 50-17 record at the Breslin Center.
The Badgers have won the last three games at the Breslin Center.
Tom Izzo is now 35-24 all-time against Wisconsin.
The Spartans are 0-4 this year when trailing at the half.
MSU is 1-4 when being out-rebounded.
Tyson Walker led the Spartans in scoring with 22 points, his sixth time leading the team this season.
- Walker has scored at least 20 points four times this year.
- He has now scored 945 points in 77 games at State (12.3 ppg).
A.J. Hoggard scored 14 point and led the team with seven assists.
- This was his fifth-straight game in double figures and the fifth this season.
- He led the team in assists for the fourth time this season.

Up Next
Michigan State plays its first Big Ten road game of the season on Sunday, Dec. 10 at Nebraska (BTN, 6:30 p.m.)

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Team Stats

Tyson Walker

A.J. Hoggard

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Tre Holloman

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Fears Jr.

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

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Jeremy Fears Jr.

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

Spartans Fall to Wisconsin in Big Ten Opener, 70-57

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