The Wisconsin Badgers had their 7-game win streak snapped tonight in east Lansing, getting trounced by Michigan State 69-57.
Leading the way for the Spartans were seniors Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes who poured in 24 and 17 points respectively. Freshman Ethan Happ lead the way with 18 points and 4 rebounds for Wisconsin.
The Badgers were held to 34 percent shooting from the field and only 30 percent from behind the arc in the loss. More importantly, they had no answer for Forbes and Michigan State’s offense.
The Badgers found themselves down 5-0 after a three point shot and a dunk from Michigan State to start things off.
Bronson Koenig would hit a three to pull the Badgers within 2 but then the junior point guard fell deathly quiet. The usually dynamic duo of Hayes and Koenig simply had an off night.
Hayes went 1 for 13 from the field including 0 for 5 from the three-point line for a total of 5 points on the night.
Despite a rough first half shooting, Wisconsin found themselves only down nine points at half time and the thought of a comeback was not completely out of question.
Valentine and the Spartans extinguished the hope early on in the second half building a solid lead less than five minutes into the second half.
Every time Wisconsin put anything together, however, Forbes was there to take all the air out of Wisconsin’s sails and back into Michigan State’s.
Scoring 9 of his 17 in the second half, Forbes lead the way with 50 percent shooting from the field.
With Koenig and Hayes missing in action, freshman Ethan Happ showed the most fight for Wisconsin, finishing off nice plays deep into the second half even with the game virtually decided. The freshman had foul trouble in the first half and scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half.
Denzel Valentine, a possible Wooden Award candidate topped off the night with a ferocious slam in fast break over a defenseless Zak Showalter. Michigan State ended up wining the game by 12 points, 69-57.
With the loss, Wisconsin fell to 16-10 (8-5 in the Big Ten) and into a 8th place spot in the Big Ten standings.
Although many are quick to condemn this Badger team back to the NIT, a split between Maryland and Michigan State on the road is far from the worst thing that could happen for this Wisconsin squad.
The Badgers look to regroup and head back home where they take on Illinois Sunday at 6:30 pm CT.
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