Nigel Hayes challenged his teammates to step up following a third-straight loss in Big Ten play, saying losing close games wasn’t good enough anymore.
His words took 59 minutes and 50 seconds to completely sink in, but the Badgers hard-fighting style finally paid dividends in a close game, as Wisconsin upended No. 5 Michigan State 77-76 in front of a raucous Kohl Center crowd.
With just over 10 seconds to play, freshman forward Ethan Happ received a pass under the basket. What ensued was the stuff of legends.
It was the latest reminder of just how much the Kohl Center matters to the Badgers in this series, as Wisconsin improved to 11-2 against the Spartans since 2002.
While Happ had the most memorable moment, it was the first time the dynamic duo of Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig went off together.
Koenig had a career-high 27 points in the win, including a clutch three pointer in the final minute to get UW within a point at 76-75. Hayes poured in 25 points of his own, with the two shooting a combined 15 of 29 from the field and all six of the Badgers’ made three pointers in the game.
The Spartans countered with a great second half effort from their star guard, Denzel Valentine. He poured in 23 points to lead Michigan State in scoring, hitting on 8 of 19 from the field.
Michigan State came in to the matchup with Wisconsin looking to shake things up, starting three players who weren’t expected to start coming in to the contest — Deyonta Davis, Matt McQuaid and Eron Harris.
Early on it appeared the shakeup was exactly what the Spartans needed, as MSU went up 6-1 in the first 90 seconds of the game.
However, Wisconsin settled down and Hayes and Koenig began to do work for the Badgers. The two combined for 27 points in the first half alone, with Hayes pouring in 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting and Koenig adding a first-half high 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
Perhaps most importantly, Koenig was adding production from beyond the arc and Hayes continued to pound the ball and attract fouls while trying to get to the hoop.
Koenig was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc in the first half, while Hayes helped pave the way for a team that shot 16 of 19 from the free throw line after drawing 15 fouls against the Spartans.
That all led to the Badgers being in a great position when the game got down to the final moments of the first half.
After going down 35-31 with 3:16 to play in the first half, Wisconsin would go on a 10-0 run to end the half and put them up by five at 41-36. It would also hold Michigan State without a field goal over the last 4:15 of the half.
The second half started much like the first, as MSU went on a 10-2 run o start the half and eventually were 7-7 from the field to build out a 52-46 lead with just over 14 minutes to play.
However, the ugly monster of the first half — fouls — began to pile up once again for the visitors. Michigan State committed another 13 fouls in the second half and Wisconsin got to the free throw line a season-high 36 times.
UW finished the game shooting 81 percent from the charity stripe, putting in 29 points with the clock not running.
That helped to combat a 35-25 deficit in rebounding and an MSU team that had eight more made field goals than the Badgers. UW’s ability to get to the line also helped even out another horrid shooting drought in the second half, as Wisconsin went over a 7 minute stretch without a made bucket.
Junior guard Zak Showalter got a layup with 7:58 to play and put the Badgers up 66-61 at the time. However, it would be the last basket made until Koenig hit the killer three-pointer with just 28 seconds left to play.
In between there, Wisconsin was able to stay in the contest with six points from the charity stripe.
To no one’s surprise, the duo of Hayes and Koenig were even more efficient from the free throw line than they were from the field. Hayes was 9-10, while Koenig countered with a perfect 7-7 night from the free throw line.
It all added up to an effort that was able to overcome some of the shortfalls this team has experienced all season long.
Wisconsin will test if this was a one-off moment or a turning point by taking a tricky trip to Penn State on Thursday. The game can be seen at 7p.m. CT on BTN.
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