Wisconsin did not get Michigan State’s best on Thursday
night. The Izzone was on spring break, the band was out of town, and the
Spartans couldn’t find the backside of a barn in the first half. UW’s problem
was that they couldn’t find it either. The Badgers (11-6 Big Ten, 20-10
overall) continued to struggle shooting the basketball, making just 15-of-51
(29%) from the field en route to a resounding 58-43 defeat in East Lansing.
Despite its poor start, Wisconsin did climb back into the
game late in the first half and looked poised to head into the locker room with
momentum. The Badgers took an eight-point deficit down to four as it took over
with 38 seconds left for what should have been the final possession of the
opening half. Inexplicably, senior forward Mike Bruesewitz attempted and missed
a three-point shot with over eight seconds remaining, allowing the Spartans to
rebound and feed sophomore guard Travis Trice for a deep three-pointer that
sent UW into the half trailing 25-18.
“It’s a big momentum swing anytime you can’t hit a three pointer
like that at the buzzer…” senior forward Jared Berggren said. “They definitely
fed off that and we kind of let them get rolling from there.”
Although the Badgers missed their fair share of makeable
shots, the shot selection was once again well below average. After missing 17
straight attempts from three-point range to end Sunday’s loss against Purdue,
UW attempted 23 three’s Thursday night, making just four (17%) and giving
Michigan State plenty of opportunities to grab a long rebound and run in
transition. With the Badgers adding an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers (eight in
the first half), the recipe for a blowout defeat was right there for the
Spartans’ taking.
“They were jumping passing lanes
every time we tried to attack,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “I thought they
were very aggressive with their hands.”
“We just need to take care of the
ball better,” junior guard Ben Brust said. “17 turnovers is just mind-boggling.”
Even while the Spartans were struggling out of the gate, it
appeared the Badgers were in for another tough night. Wisconsin allowed 2nd
chance points on two of MSU’s first four possessions, failing to keep the
Spartans in check despite forcing difficult shots during the onset of the game.
Although the Badgers would briefly take the lead on a
Bruesewitz three (snapping a streak of 20 straight misses dating back to
Sunday), it would last just 44 seconds and be the last UW would hold before a
10-0 MSU run put control of the game squarely in the hands of the home squad.
Though Wisconsin would cut into that lead with a 6-2 run of its own in
response, the end-of-half-sequence ending with Trice’s three would all but seal
the Badgers’ fate.
“We were still in there early,” Brust said. “Then we just
got into a hole and couldn’t get out of it.”
If a seven-point halftime deficit wasn’t the nail in the
coffin, a 16-0 run by Michigan State following a jump shot from senior forward
Jared Berggren would put to bed any thoughts of an upset in East Lansing. The
Spartans took advantage of miss after miss by Wisconsin and turned a 25-20 lead
into a 41-20 advantage with just 12:20 left.
“Its always a combination of things. What they’re doing what
we’re not doing…” Ryan said. “You just cant have those kinds of spells.”
Having squandered its final opportunity at a Big Ten title,
Wisconsin now must take care of business Sunday at Penn State and get help from
either Indiana (at Michigan) or Illinois (at Ohio State) in order to maintain
Ryan’s streak of 11 straight top-4 finishes in Big Ten play and to avoid a spot
in next Thursday’s play-in game at the Big Ten Tournament.
“With this team, what they’ve done. I’m not trading them…”
Ryan said. “We still have another regular season game and that’s all I think
about.”
Although Wisconsin is in the midst of by-far its worst
stretch this season, the Badgers still head into postseason play knowing they
have the ability to beat any team in the country. Now is the time to prove it.
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