Michigan State Falls at Wisconsin, 81-66

Madison, Wis. – Michigan State put four players in double figures and made a late run in the second half, but lost to No. 13 Wisconsin, 81-66, at the Kohl Center on Friday night.
Senior guard A.J. Hoggard scored a team-high 19 points to lead the Spartans, while adding four assists.
Graduate forward Malik Hall finished with 13 points, two rebounds and two assists, while graduate guard Tyson Walker had 11 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals and junior guard Jaden Akins added 10 points and four rebounds.
Records
Michigan State falls to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten Conference, while Wisconsin improves to 16-4 overall and 8-1 in league play.
Recap

Michigan State trailed from the start, went into the break trialing by nine points (43-34) and cut the lead to seven points, 43-36, on a dunk from senior forward Mady Sissoko early in the second half.
Twice, MSU trailed by just nine points, first at 50-41 following a dunk from Hall at 16:08 and then on another dunk from the forward, this time making it 53-44 with 15:01 to play.
The Badgers responded with a 9-2 run and extended their lead to 62-46 on a layup from Tyler Wahl with 12:01 left in the game.
Wisconsin took its biggest lead, 68-49, on a pair of free throws from Steven Crowl with 9:53 left in the game.
MSU pulled to within 12 points, 71-59, when Walker hit a pair of free throws with 4:24 left, but would get no closer the rest of the way.
The Spartans went into the break trailing by nine points, 43-34, after Wisconsin hit 55.6 percent of their field goals, including 41.7 percent of its 3-pointers.
MSU, meanwhile, hit just one of their first seven shots from the floor and trailed early, with the Badgers taking a 20-11 lead on a 3-pointer from Connor Esegian at the 12-minute mark.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Hall (11:32) and Hoggard (10:54) pulled MSU to within three points, 20-17 and started the Spartans back.
A 3-pointer from Akins with 5:54 to play cut the margin to four points, 28-24.
The Badgers out-scored MSU 14-6 over a span of 3:28 and extended their lead to 42-30 before going to the break leading by nine points.

Key Stats

Wisconsin shot 50.9 percent from the floor (29-of-57), including 55.6 percent in the first half (15-of-27).
Michigan State was out-rebounded by Wisconsin, 35-25.
The Badgers collected 12 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points.

Notes

Wisconsin swept the home and away series with Michigan State for the first time since 2003-04.
Michigan State leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 86-69.
MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo's career record is now 699-288.
Michigan State is 1-4 on the road this season.
The Spartans are 0-7 when trailing at the half.
Wisconsin was only the third opponent to shoot above 50 percent against MSU this season.
The Spartans are 0-6 when being out-shot by their opponent.
MSU is 3-5 when losing the battle of the boards.
The Spartans are 1-8 when their opponent scores more than 70 points.
A.J. Hoggard scored a season-high 19, his 15th game in double figures and the 49th of his career.
- It was his first time leading the team in scoring this year and the 11th of his career.
- Hoggard now has 985 career points.
Tyson Walker scored 11 points, his 17th game in double figures this year and the 91st of his career.
- Dating back to last season, Walker has scored in double figures in 31-straight games, the second-longest streak in double figures by a player under Tom Izzo.
- Walker now has 1,166 career points at MSU and is 40th all-time in scoring at MSU… He needs 11 points to pass Lee Lafayette (1966-69) for 39th place.
- Walker has scored 1,846 points in 139 career games (13.3 ppg).
- Walker tied his season high with five assists and led the team for the sixth time this year.
Malik Hall scored 13 points, while adding two rebounds and two assists.
- It was his 12th game in double figure scoring this year and the 45th of his career.
- He has scored in double figures in the last five games and seven of the last eight.
- He now has 1,030 points and moved past Gary Harris (2012-14) and Kevin Smith (1979-82) into 51st on the all-time list … He needs 25 points to pass Marcus Sanders (1962-65) for 50th place.
Jaden Akins finished with 10 points, his 14th game in double figures and the 27th of his career.

Next
Michigan State returns home for a pair of games, starting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, hosting Michigan at the Breslin Center. The game tips at 9 p.m. on Peacock, with Noah Eagle and Robbie Hummel calling all of the aciotn.

Next Event

Team Stats

A.J. Hoggard

Malik Hall

Tyson Walker

Jaden Akins

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Tyson Walker