EAST LANSING— No. 8 Michigan State men’s basketball is hosting No. 11 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon for a top 15 Big Ten matchup.
MSU is 23-5 overall and 14-3 in conference play after taking down No. 16 Maryland on Wednesday. A buzzer beater three from beyond half court from junior guard Tre Holloman secured a 58-55 victory for the Spartans.
Freshman guard Jase Richardson was the only player who finished in double figures for MSU at Maryland with 15 points. Richardson was followed by Holloman with nine points and senior center Szymon Zapala with seven points.
Wednesday evening marked the second game decided by a three-point win margin for the Spartans. The other three-point win margin was over then-No. 12 North Carolina on Nov. 27 in the Maui Invitational with a 94-91 overtime win.
The Green and White shot 38.8% from the field, 26.7% from behind the arc and 83.3% from the free throw line against Maryland. The Spartans bench outscored the Terrapins bench 23-0.
MSU leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 86-69. The Badgers swept the series with the Spartans last season 2-0 but the Spartans hold a 50-17 home record when hosting the Badgers.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers are 22-6 on the season and 12-5 in B1G play. Wisconsin bounced back on Tuesday against Washington 88-62 after falling to Oregon on Feb. 22 in overtime 77-73.
Four players finished in double-digits for Wisconsin against Washington. The Badgers were led by sophomore guard John Blackwell with 24 points, graduate guard John Tonje finished with 13 points, graduate forward Steven Crowl finished with 12 points and junior forward Xavier Amos also finished with 12 points.
Wisconsin shot 51.6% from the field, 33.3% from behind the arc and 75% from the free throw line. The Badgers put up 42 points in the paint, 33 bench points and 10 fast break points.
Tonje leads Wisconsin in points, averaging 19.5 points per game, while Blackwell also is averaging double-figures this season with 15.2 points per game.
Crowl had high-performances in both games against the Spartans last season putting up 18 and 15 points in the first and second game respectively. He averages 12.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 55.4% from the field over his six games against MSU.
The two teams will go head-to-head at the Breslin Center with the tip-off set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tune into the live radio broadcast featuring Matt Merrifield and Allie Cohen locally on 88.9 FM or at impact89fm.org/listen-live/.
