(9) Wisconsin 85, (12) Michigan State 76: Last word

December 25, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

No. 9 Wisconsin got 29 points from D’Mitrik Trice as the Badgers beat No. 12 Michigan State 85-76 on Friday in East Lansing.

Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice

Playing in front of a large number of his family members for the first time this year, the senior guard delivered a season-high 29 points. All but 11 of that came after halftime when at one point Trice was almost outscoring the Spartans by himself. When Wisconsin fell down 51-42 a few minutes into the second half, Trice scored the next 13 to get the Badgers back into the game. Trice probably would have liked to have hit more of his free throws down the stretch but he still went 8-for-11 to close things out.

The good: A road win

Wisconsin had played at the Breslin Center 12 times since 2004 and lost every time, including as the No. 1 team in the country in 2007. Sure, there weren’t fans at the arena on Friday, but the Badgers still went into East Lansing and outplayed a Michigan State team that was coming off an ugly loss at Northwestern. Wisconsin has now won 10 straight Big Ten games, including four on the road and half of those against top 25 teams.

The not so good: First-half defense

Michigan State got a lot of good looks and took advantage. The Spartans shot 58.6% (17-for-29) from the field and all four of their 3-pointers. It included 18 points in the paint. The Badgers locked in for the second half, especially over the final stretch of the game, holding Michigan State to 35.7% from the field.

Stat of the Game: 2

That’s how many turnovers Wisconsin had in their final 59 possessions after turning it over five times in the first nine possessions.

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In Case You Missed It

— Senior Aleem Ford fouled out, but he gave the Badgers a huge lift to start things out. He had 11 early points to get Wisconsin going and finished with 13 for the game.

— Wisconsin shot 42.1% (8-for-19) from beyond the arc. It’s the fifth time in nine games the Badgers have shot north of 40% on 3-pointers.

— Michigan State allowed families of players to attend, including those from Wisconsin.

What’s next?

Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0) will head home to face Maryland on Monday night at the Kohl Center.