The Wisconsin Badgers got their biggest win of the season, edging past the Michigan State Spartans 77-74 in a true back-and-forth battle, advancing to the Big Ten Tournament Championship for the second consecutive year.
The Badgers never led by more than seven points, but never trailed over the final 14:37 as they avenged their loss to Michigan State from earlier in the month.
Offensively, John Tonje was the answer, scoring 32 points on just 15 field goal attempts, while John Blackwell had key clutch moments for the Badgers lat in the game.
Defensively, Wisconsin overcame an early Michigan State flurry to put together a strong performance over the first half, and then did just enough in the second half against a tough opponent to pull out the victory.
Now, the Badgers will move forward to Sunday, where they’ll take on the winner of the Maryland Terrapins and the Michigan Wolverines.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 77-74 win over Michigan State.
All-American steals the show
Back in East Lansing, the Badgers really struggled offensively, having their lowest output of the season with just 62 points, thanks to their awful 5/32 shooting from deep.
After Michigan State got out to the 13-4 lead, it was clear that Wisconsin was going to need a spark from either John Tonje or John Blackwell to get things going offensively. And their All-American answered.
Tonje started to really get going late in the first half, eating at the free throw line, while also hitting a pair of triples. He led the Badgers with 14 points on just five shot attempts, providing Wisconsin with the spark of offense that they badly needed.
But, he really came alive in the second half in a back-and-forth battle. With John Blackwell struggling for much of the game, Tonje was the go-to guy for the Badgers, scoring seven straight for Wisconsin to break a Michigan State 8-0 run. That got the Badgers the lead back, which they kept for much of the half in a highly competitive affair.
He’s shown a different level of intensity the last two days, shying away from his calm demeanor, talking with opponents and getting fired up after key moments. And that continued on Saturday, propelling Wisconsin’s fire in the physical battle.
Tonje has shown several times this season that he can rise up to the occasion when he needs to, which is why he’s an All-American this season. He ultimately finished with 32 points on just 15 field goal attempts, going a perfect 12/12 from the line before the crazy final sequence where he missed two free throws.
In the final minutes of the second half, he got some big help from Blackwell, who had some clutch moments, including a corner three, tough and-1, and a big layup with the shot clock winding down with under 90 seconds to go to put the Badgers up five.
But, Tonje has been the tournament’s most valuable player through the first three games, and he propelled the Badgers to their biggest win of the season in a gritty environment on Saturday.
Defensive Effort
On Friday, the talk of the town was Wisconsin’s shooting. But, the Badgers’ defense was stellar, squeezing the paint and making things different for UCLA.
That carried over to Saturday, as Wisconsin put together another impressive defensive performance after a slow start. Things didn’t look great over the first few minutes as the Spartans hopped out to a quick 13-4 lead, starting 5/7 from the field and 3/3 from deep.
But, Wisconsin really bottled things up from there, putting together a strong defensive effort from that point on, which changed the tides in their favor slowly as the half progressed.
Michigan State proceeded to shoot just 5/22 from the field the rest of the half, including 1/7 from deep. Limiting the Spartans to 4/15 inside the arc was extremely impressive, given the way Michigan State was able to get downhill with ball screens early on.
Additionally, after allowing some early offensive rebounds, Wisconsin put a cap on those second-chance opportunities to a degree, giving themselves some more breathing room.
Michigan State was able to get baseline at times throughout the game, but I was impressed at Steven Crowl’s ability to close off those lanes at the rim, which made shots tougher and took the Spartans deeper into shot clocks. Crowl’s seals on rebounds were also huge against a Michigan State team that thrives on the glass and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities.
Wisconsin figured out its offensive rhythm by attacking the rim more, but it was their defensive effort that really set the tone in the first half to get the lead by halftime.
Michigan State didn’t hit a field goal over the final 5:27 of the half, missing their last six attempts and eight of their last nine.
In the second half, the Spartans had a better performance, scoring 41 points on 46.7 percent from the field, getting an early start with some success on post touches. But, it was made up by Wisconsin matching offensively in the back-and-forth battle, leading to the final buzzer.
Michigan State has done a good job of commanding leads when they get out on runs this season. Wisconsin was able to manage the early flurry on Saturday, putting together a good enough defensive performance to win a big game.
Time for Milwaukee?
Entering Saturday, I felt that the Badgers needed a win for them to be confident about their No. 3 seed chances and increase their percentage of landing in Milwaukee for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Wisconsin had a big chance against Michigan State, as they were the only team other than Maryland in the No. 3 seed competition that was still playing on Saturday.
Iowa State bowed out in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals to BYU. Texas Tech lost in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals to Arizona. And Kentucky got blown out by 29 to Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
The Badgers had a strong resume that was dropped by their loss to Penn State last weekend. But, a win over the Spartans puts them over the top for me in the race for the No. 3 seed.
If Wisconsin is able to get past Iowa State, they should have a good chance of playing in the Milwaukee regional over the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Of course, the debate can be put away if the Badgers are able to win the Big Ten Tournament outright on Sunday, but I think they’ve now done enough to get to the No. 3 seed line and get the Milwaukee draw for the first weekend.
That will be finalized during the Selection Sunday show directly after the Big Ten Tournament Championship tomorrow, but I’m feeling optimistic about the Badgers’ chances heading into the big day.
