MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Badgers completed a wire-to-wire upset over No. 10 Michigan State, 92-71, on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
‘We got beat by a team that I think is better than us,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said after the loss.
The Spartans were no match for Badgers senior guard Nick Boyd, who scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 5-of-6 from deep.
Boyd also collected a highlight reel ankle breaker on Spartans freshman Jordan Scott and converted on the subsequent open three-pointer.
The Badgers got out to an early lead, and it felt like they couldn’t miss from long range.
“It sure didn’t seem like they shot 42% [on three’s], it seemed like 62,” Izzo said.
The Spartans’ lone bright spot was junior forward Coen Carr, who poured in the first seven points and led all MSU scorers with 19 points.
Michigan State didn’t receive much production from its two leading scorers. Forward Jaxon Kohler was held scoreless in the first half and Jeremy Fears Jr. was 3-for-11 from the field.
Until the final minutes, Fears Jr. was the only Spartans’ player to record an assist.
“I thought we moved the ball well at times… we missed some good shots,” Izzo said.
The Spartans allowed a season-high 51 first-half points to the Badgers and could never recover. Wisconsin just continued to score in the second half; the Spartans couldn’t produce enough stops to shave down the 18-point halftime deficit.
Izzo has referred to the Spartans’ limited margin of error many times this season and said the same after the loss.
When this MSU squad isn’t firing on all cylinders, it has found itself in some big deficits, some they’ve been able to get out of, but not against Wisconsin on Friday.
This win concludes a pretty good week for the Badgers, as they beat two top-ten teams in consecutive games on their home court.
This loss all but eliminates Michigan State from contention for a back-to-back Big Ten regular season title, as MSU is now three games back of the Michigan Wolverines.
The Spartans are back at the Breslin Center on Tuesday, Feb. 17, for their next conference game against the UCLA Bruins.
