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Madison, Wisconsin (AP) — Michigan State trailed the 18th-ranked University of Wisconsin by five points with less than four minutes remaining when Spartan coach Tom Izzo delivered his message to the veteran team.
“As everyone started coming together, the coach said, ‘We’re winning this game,'” senior forward Malik Hall said. “After that, everyone said, ‘We have to do everything we can to win this match.'”
AJ Hoggard made a tie-breaking layup with 41 seconds remaining to extend Michigan State’s seventh straight win Tuesday night with a 69-65 win over the Badgers.
The Big Ten of Wisconsin (11-4, 3-2) played two straight games without leader Tyler Wall. The Badgers were 0-2 without him, and Greg Gard his coach had no update on when Wall would return.
“He’s doing more and more every day,” said Gard. “But I don’t know if he’ll be out on Saturday.”
Michigan State (12-4, 4-1) made the last eight field goal attempts and went 16 of 17 from the foul line to win a nip and tuck game featuring 14 lead changes. . Neither team leads by more than six points.
Izzo believes his Spartan experience has paid off. They were playing away from home for the first time since their December 7 victory over Penn State that started their streak.
“Experience matters, especially in this day and age,” Izzo said. “What was a little different than the others was that the players played together. They were challenging each other, and that was a big thing for us.”
It helped them meet Izzo’s challenge.
“We’ve been through some things. Some guys have gone down and some guys have had to step up. And we’ve been playing a tight game. Come back, We’re going to put a stop on it and we’re going to make a big bucket.The coaches can say as much as they want, but it doesn’t really matter until the players start believing it. I believe you will play .”
Tyson Walker scored 13 points, Jaden Akins scored 12 and Hoggard scored 10.
Stephen Kroll led Wisconsin with 19 points, followed by Chucky Hepburn with 14 and Conor Ethesian with 13.
The score was tied at 63 when Hoggard moved around the crawl in the paint and delivered a basket that gave the Spartans the outright lead. After Hepburn missed a three-point shot, Hoggard made his two free throws and he extended his lead to 67–63 with 28 seconds remaining.
Wisconsin’s Max Kressmit made it 1-1 on both ends to cut the lead to 67-65 with 13.5 seconds remaining and Walker sunk two free throws to score with 12.6 seconds remaining.
It was a rare close loss for the Badgers, who have gone 18-6 and won within five points over the past two seasons. Gard says the difference this time is simple.
“We didn’t run the last 10 possessions of the game on both ends of the floor like we did in the past,” said Gard.
big picture
Michigan State: The Spartans are winning games on defense, shooting just 36.4% of their opponents overall and 23.4% from 3-point range in their last six wins. But they won this match with great shots and offensive execution.
WISCONSIN: The Badgers proved they can compete against quality teams without Wall, who missed the 79-69 Badgers loss in Illinois on Saturday. But the 33-18 rebounding deficit was too much to overcome.
sisoko seams
Michigan State center Maddie Sissoko made her way to the locker room late in the first half after being hit in the face. He got five stitches above his right eye before returning to play in the second half. He finished with 6 points and 11 rebounds.
poll meaning
Michigan should be in the AP Top 25 with a win on Friday. Wisconsin probably needs to win Saturday to stay on the ballot.
next
Michigan: Friday in Illinois.
Wisconsin: Saturday in Indiana.
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