Wisconsin's blistering three-point barrage crushed Michigan State's road struggles, leaving the Spartans ice-cold in a dominant Kohl Center performance.
Michigan State's Kryptonite? True road games.
It’s getting to a point where anytime the Spartans play a true road game — regardless of the opponent — you might as well take the spread for the home team.
The Badgers felt the energy from the Kohl Center and ran with it. Draining shot after shot all game long, forcing the Spartans to go home with their tail tucked between their legs.
The Badgers improve to 18-7 (10-4), and the Spartans drop to 20-5 (10-4) as Wisconsin’s three-point shooting led them to a 92-71 win.
In the first half, it was all Wisconsin, and the game never looked any different. It was a brutal showing from the Spartans paired with a beautiful piece of art from the Badgers.
Wisconsin started 5-for-5 from three.
Coen Carr started the Spartans’ scoring, getting the first five. At one point, Kur Teng hit five Spartan points in a row.
Carr kicked off the game for MSU with a three, and other than that and Teng’s early three, the Spartans were ice cold from beyond the arc, starting 2-for-7. The Badgers’ five threes had them looking like the Splash Brothers — but for Wisconsin, it never fizzled out.
The Spartans knew Wisconsin lived and died by the three ball. Coming into the game averaging 83.3 points and 11 threes a game, MSU couldn’t afford to dig a hole early and stay underwater all night. Early on, Cooper and Teng combined for 12 points and kept MSU within a nickel at 19-14.
But after the first break, the Spartans kept digging. Ice-cold shooting paired with nuclear shooting from Wisconsin led to a 13-0 run and an early 32-14 lead. Where’s the auto-sim button? The Badgers just couldn’t miss from deep, and it was gut-wrenching to watch.
It went from ugly to worse as the Badgers stayed as hot as Sydney Sweeney’s new lingerie line, firing off three after three. The Spartans tried to answer when they could, but the early hole only got deeper.
Wisconsin took a 17-point lead into halftime, up 51-37. The team that came in averaging 11 threes per game drained 10-of-17 in the first half. A rampage like no other. They also stayed even with the Spartans on the glass, tied 19-19. That simply can’t happen in true road games against top Big Ten teams. It’s one thing to dominate the boards against Cornell. It’s another to do it against elite conference competition.
The road has been vicious to the Spartans this year.
The game went from ugly to worse to downright sickening. The Badgers continued to put on a clinic against MSU’s bigs. Any time the Spartans made a shot that felt like the last breath of a drowning team, Wisconsin answered — like a foot kicking you deeper into the pit of despair.
A 20-point lead felt fitting — maybe even too small. The Spartans never had a chance from the jump. Exactly what I said: don’t dig a hole early and you have a chance against Wisconsin. Dig one, and you get butchered by the basketball gods.
The Badgers were the better team. They wanted it more, and they showed it. They shot like their lives depended on it and rebounded like they were battling through a Mortal Kombat gauntlet. Life-or-death play. Meanwhile, the Spartans’ calm, cool approach looked a step behind all night.
The Spartans were exploited. If you can’t shoot, you can’t win.
More and more, teams are taking bigs Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper out of the game and forcing the Spartans to win elsewhere. That’s been met with less-than-anticipated results. Jordan Scott, coming off a huge defensive performance and solid offensive showing, came up short tonight.
A blowout might be exactly what the Spartans need before the home stretch. Just seven games remain, including matchups against Purdue and Michigan. MSU is starting to falter at the worst possible time.
This loss can do one of two things: light a fire under them — or push them into the abyss.
Wisconsin’s résumé continues to grow — slaying Michigan, Illinois, and now Michigan State all within the last ten games.
The Spartans head home to face UCLA on Tuesday.