Offense: C
Wisconsin was clinging to a 50-47 lead with 11:26 to go in the game as the Badgers to start the second half were 3-for-17 from the field over the first 10 minutes.
The way Wisconsin shot the basketball in the second half was the complete opposite of the first 20 minutes where the Badgers shot 15-for-26 (57.6 percent) from the field.
The cold shooting by Wisconsin allowed for Michigan State to make their comeback making the game appear that it could have a similar ending to the Iowa game from earlier in the week.
Although Wisconsin shot 4-for-11 from the field over the last 9:33 of the game the Badgers were able to do enough on the offensive end to come away with a win.
After Cassius Winston’s made jumper made it 50-47 the Badgers were in desperate need of a basket to help them regain momentum the Badgers responded by making four straight field goals to extend their lead back to double-digits.
Micah Potter got Wisconsin’s 10-to-2 run started by registering a dunk off of an assist by D’Mitrik Trice. On Wisconsin’s ensuing offensive possession Brevin Pritzl registered a layup, which was followed by two consecutive made three’s by Aleem Ford.
Wisconsin only made three of their 3-point attempts in the second half on 14 tries after they went 5-for-11 over the first 20 minutes. Overall Wisconsin finished the game shooting 22-for-54 (40.7 percent) shooting from the field.
Wisconsin had four of their five starters reach double figures as Nate Reuvers led the way with 15 points but 13 of those points came in the first half. Trice had 14 points, Ford finished with 13 points, and Brevin Pritzl finished with 10 points.
While Wisconsin couldn’t consistently find the bottom of the net during the second half the Badgers had to rely on generating points from the free throw line.
Considering after Ford’s second made three to give Wisconsin a 60-49 lead with 7:27 to go in the game the Badgers proceeded to miss their next seven field goal attempts but the Badgers did go 4-for-7 from the charity stripe. Trice was the one to shoot all seven of the free throw attempts for Wisconsin as the Badgers finished the game 12-for-15 from the free throw line.