MSU 84, UW 74: Big Ten title hopes dimming

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Another chance to move back into first place in the Big Ten.

Another opportunity missed.

Another loss at the Breslin Center.

That sums up the day Sunday for No. 15 Wisconsin, which missed too many free throws and defensive assignments and too many shots in an 84-74 loss to Michigan State in front of a raucous crowd of 14,797.

The Badgers’ late-season slump continued. UW (22-7, 11-5 Big Ten) lost for the fourth time in five games to fall a full game behind first-place Purdue (23-6, 12-4), which stumbled Saturday at Michigan. The loss was the 10th in a row for UW at the Breslin Center.

"It’s just not taking advantage of opportunities," senior guard Bronson Koenig said quietly outside the UW locker room.

Both the Badgers and Boilermakers have two regular-season games left. UW hosts Iowa (16-13, 8-8) on Thursday and Minnesota (22-7, 10-6) on Sunday. Purdue hosts Indiana (16-13, 6-10) on Tuesday and closes Sunday at Northwestern (20-9, 9-7).

"We got the help that we needed (Saturday) and we shot ourselves in the foot," senior forward Nigel Hayes said. “Now we’re playing that same game … the please help us game. And we need to worry about ourselves first.”

Michigan State (18-11, 10-6) continued its late-season push with its fourth victory in the last five games.

BOX SCORE: Spartans 84, Badgers 74 | Big Ten standings

Hayes had team-high marks in points (22), rebounds (11) and assists (four) but made just 4 of 12 free-throw attempts, with several of the misses at critical junctures, and just 9 of 22 field-goal attempts.

Hayes missed two free throws with 2 minutes 31 seconds left and UW trailing, 72-66.

"Of course I’ve got to be a lot better," said Hayes, who was shooting just 62.1% from the line in Big Ten play before Sunday. "It’s something we’ve been saying, our free throws would cost us a game and 4 of 12 is something that will do that."

UW, 65.2% from the free-throw line in Big Ten play, hit just 13 of 25 free-throw attempts (52.0%). Michigan State, 67.2% in league play, hit 21 of 23 attempts (91.3%).

"The numbers tell the story," UW coach Greg Gard said.

Zak Showalter hit 3 of 3 three-pointers and 4 of 4 shots overall for 11 points in the first half as UW closed on a 16-4 run to close within a point. He finished with 15 points.

Koenig, who scored 27 points in UW’s loss to Ohio State on Thursday, finished with 17 Sunday. He made just 1 of 9 three-pointers, 5 of 15 shots overall and was quiet offensively until late.

Two of the missed three-pointers came after a Michigan State turnover, with UW trailing, 77-70.

Ethan Happ fouled out in the final minute and finished with eight points and 11 rebounds. He hit just 4 of 10 shots and missed all three of his free-throw attempts.

Gard lamented repeated misses inside and noted that UW hit just 17 of 36 shots in the lane.

"We got the looks we needed to get," he said. "We got the ball exactly where we talked about getting it."

For Michigan State, center Nick Ward (13 points) and guard Matt McQuad (11 points) combined to hit 10 of 14 shots for 24 points in the opening half. They finished with 22 and 15 points, respectively. Ward hit 9 of 12 shots; McQuaid hit 5 of 9.

Miles Bridges, guarded mostly by Hayes, added 12 of his 17 points in the second half.

Freshman guard Cassius Winston hit only 2 of 11 shots but still burned UW with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. He had back-to-back assists to help Michigan State turn a four-point lead into a 59-50 cushion midway through the second half. Later, he assisted on Ward's three-point play, which gave the Spartans a 77-66 lead with 1:44 left.

UW has surrendered at least 80 points in each of the last two games. The last time that happened was during nonconference play in 2005-'06. The last time UW surrendered 80 or more points in consecutive games in Big Ten play? That happened in the final three games of the 1992-'93 season.

"Starting this month we were one of the top five defensive teams in the country," Hayes said. "Now we’re like Swiss cheese out there."

Like UW's title hopes, that cheese is melting.