Badgers are able to exact some payback
EAST LANSING, Mich. – This might have been Wisconsin’s most impressive and most important victory of the Big Ten basketball season.
Johnny Davis was terrific, particularly in the first half.
But Davis did not need to put his teammates on his back and carry them to victory, as he had last month at Purdue.
Davis led the way with 25 points, including 18 after halftime, but Greg Gard got contributions from everyone who played and the No. 14 Badgers proved to be the better team in a 70-62 victory over No. 17 Michigan State on Tuesday night at the Breslin Center.
The Badgers (19-4, 10-3 Big Ten) never trailed and moved to within one-half game of first-place Illinois (17-5, 10-2), which played at Purdue (20-3, 9-3) on Tuesday night.
UW won consecutive games in the Breslin Center for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
Michigan State (17-6, 8-4) suffered its second consecutive loss and third in five games.
UW was without Tyler Wahl (ankle) in the teams’ first meeting and the Spartans took advantage of his absence to shoot 52.7%, place five players in double-figure scoring, score 21 points in transition and attempt 17 more free throws than UW.
On Tuesday, the Spartans shot 32.0% in the opening half and finished at 41.5%. But this time only two Michigan State players scored at least 10 points and UW won the fast-break battle, 9-8.
Wahl (11.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg) contributed 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Davis, 27 of 78 in the previous five games (34.6%), displayed poise and didn’t try to force shots. He scored a team-high seven points in the opening half to help UW build a six-point lead and finished 2 of 4 from three-point range, 8 of 11 overall and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Davison, 1 of 12 from three-point range (8.3%) in the previous two games, was 0 of 3 from three-point range and 0 of 6 in the opening half. He hit 2 critical three-pointers after halftime and finished with eight points.
Chucky Hepburn was superb and contributed 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.
Steven Crowl, who contributed 13 points, five assists and four rebounds Saturday against Penn State, added six points, four rebounds and two assists Tuesday.
UW hit just 14 of 22 free throws but put the game away by hitting 7 of 8 in the final 1 minute 28 seconds.
Malik Hall killed UW in the teams’ first meeting with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. He had quiet 12 points Tuesday.
Marcus Bingham Jr., averaging 9.7 points per game, scored 11 points in the opening half to keep the Spartans close. He finished with a team-high 17 points.
Both teams struggled to score early but the Badgers got the ball into the lane area more consistently and eventually took advantage.
Wahl scored inside with 10:22 left to give UW a 14-8 lead and Chris Vogt grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for a 16-8 lead with 9:05 left.
UW missed its first 7 three-point attempts but Davis got the first one to fall to give UW a 21-13 lead with 4:57 left in the half.
He went to the bench for the final 3:56 of the half after picking up his second foul. Gabe Brown hit two free throws to pull Michigan State within 21-15 but Lorne Bowman and Hepburn hit three-pointers to help UW take a 29-23 halftime lead.
The key was that Michigan State couldn’t pull closer than six points in the final 3:56 with Davis on the bench.
UW’s defense remained tight early in the second half and the Badgers eventually built the lead to 35-25 on a three-pointer by Davison with 15:59 left.
The Spartans got back-to-back three-pointers after going 0 for 5 in the opening half and UW’s lead was quickly down to 37-31.
UW should have led by more but the Badgers, shooting 75.5% from the free-throw line entering the night, hit just 5 of their first 11 attempts Tuesday.
That allowed the Spartans to close to within 43-40 on a dunk by Hall with 11:50 left.
UW’s lead was 55-51, thanks in part to Davison hitting his second threepointer in seven tries, when UW got consecutive baskets from Hepburn, Wahl and Davis for a 61-51 lead with 1:44 left.
Gabe Brown countered with a jumper and Michigan State called a timeout with 1:29 left and trailing by eight.
Hepburn was fouled with 1:28 left. UW was 7 of 14 from the line to that point but Hepburn made both shots. The lead was back to 10. Michigan State got one free throw from Max Christie and the Spartans got the ball back after UW could not control the rebound.
Christie hit a jumper with 1:11 left to cut the deficit to 63-56 but Davison, an 86.4% free-throw shooter, hit both shots with 1:08 left for a 65-56 lead.
Joey Hauser hit two free throws with 1:01 left and the lead was back down to seven.
A turnover with 56.5 seconds left gave the Spartans life and the ball but Hauser missed a three-pointer and Wahl was fouled on the rebound with 49.3 seconds left.
Wahl made the second of two attempts and Michigan State failed to score. Davis secured the rebound, was fouled with 32.1 seconds left and drained both shots for a 68-58 lead.
Davis answered a Michigan State basket with a driving lay-in.
UW was in the clear.
When the buzzer sounded, UW had its most impressive victory to date.