EAST LANSING – Michigan State took another huge step toward winning its first Big Ten title in five years.
The No. 8 Spartans pulled away in the second half for a 71-62 victory against No. 11 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center. They’ve now won five straight, including four in a row against ranked teams, to remain in first place in the Big Ten with two games remaining.
No. 15 Michigan is a half-game behind Michigan State and hosts Illinois at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday.
Michigan State (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) used a 7-0 run late to build a nine-point lead and hold on for the victory against Wisconsin (22-7, 12-6), which had won six of seven.
Jaden Akins hit four 3-pointers to break out of a shooting funk and scored a team-high 19 to go with eight rebounds for Michigan State while Jase Richardson had 11 points and Frankie Fidler nine. Jaxon Kohler finished with 10 points in a monster game on the boards with a career-high 16 rebounds – seven of them offensive. It was the 18th time this season the Spartans had 10 players score at least two points.
John Blackwell, a Brother Rice product, scored 19 to lead the Badgers, John Tonje had 11 while Nolan Winter finished with nine points and 17 rebounds. Wisconsin was without starting guard Max Klesmit, who was wearing a walking boot on his right leg on the bench.
Michigan State, which was coming off a 58-55 win at Maryland on Tre Holloman’s heave from beyond half court on Wednesday, made just one of its first seven field goals on Sunday. Complicating matters was Richardson going to the bench with two fouls five minutes into the game and sitting the rest of the half.
Wisconsin led by nine early before Coen Carr sent a jolt through the Breslin crowd by throwing down a two-handed reverse slam on a lob from Holloman. That was followed by Akins hitting a trio of 3-pointers in a little more than a minute to tie the game at 17.
As quickly as they heated up, the Spartans cooled off and missed nine straight from the field while going scoreless for 4:29. Wisconsin didn’t take advantage of the drought and led by only five in that stretch while matching Michigan State by missing nine in a row.
The Badgers scored the final four in the half to take a 34-32 lead into the locker room with Tonje and Blackwell combining for 17 points. Akins hit four triples in the opening 20 minutes for 14 while nobody else on the team had more than three.
After spending most of the first half on the bench, Richardson hit his first shot of the second, knocking down a triple as part of an 8-0 run. Wisconsin snapped a skid of 14 straight missed 3-pointers when Winter made his first of the game.
Fidler provided a spark with five quick points on a triple and drive down the lane. A Wisconsin turnover and fast break slam by Akins followed by a two-handed dunk from Carson Cooper gave Michigan State its biggest lead of the game at 58-50 and led to a timeout by the Badgers with 8:33 left.
Wisconsin crawled back within two before Kohler and Cooper combined for seven straight and a 69-60 lead with a little more than a minute to play. Although the Spartans shot just 6-for-13 from the free throw line, they did enough down the stretch to extend their winning streak.
Michigan State will play its final road game of the season on Thursday (8 p.m., FS1) at Iowa (15-14, 6-12) before hosting Michigan in the regular-season finale on March 9.
