Michigan State basketball 'found that zone' to outlast Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Just like that, Michigan State basketball is back atop the Big Ten standings.

It wasn’t easy in the least, not after a three-game losing streak that disrupted the Spartans’ perfect Big Ten start through nine games. And nowhere near as start-to-finish dominating as their win Saturday over Minnesota that ended the short slide.

But No. 11 MSU put forth a display of all the things it showed early in conference play Tuesday night, pulling away to a 67-59 road victory over No. 20 Wisconsin at Kohl Center in the final 6 minutes of what coach Tom Izzo called a back-and-forth “war.”

“To win six games on the road in this league so far maybe is one of our greatest accomplishments so far,” Izzo said.” But there’s no question this was a big win in a tough place to play, against a very, very good basketball team.”

Coupled with Michigan’s loss at Penn State and Purdue’s loss at Maryland, the Spartans (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) leaped back into a first-place tie with the Wolverines and sit a half-game in front of the Boilermakers.

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MSU hosts Ohio State on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS), the first of four of its final six regular-season games at Breslin Center. The Spartans still have home and away games with U-M and a road trip to Indiana, with Rutgers and Nebraska also still to visit East Lansing.

“Just winning at Wisconsin is never easy, so I’m glad to get out of here with the dub (win),” said senior Kenny Goins, who played through a left elbow injury to finish with 12 points and nine rebounds. “Hopefully, we’ll continue the streak going for the next couple of games.”

Along with two games against MSU, U-M hosts Maryland on Saturday and still must visit College Park. The Wolverines also travel to Minnesota and host Nebraska in the stretch run.

Purdue has the seemingly easiest slate, hosting Penn State on Saturday and with remaining home games against Illinois and Ohio State. The Boilermakers still have road games at Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota and Northwestern remaining.

Yet as Tuesday and the past few weeks has shown, no game in the Big Ten is a gimme.

“You know what games are a little bit bigger, what teams are a little bit better…,” said Cassius Winston, who put up 23 points, six assists and six rebounds against the Badgers. “It just felt like we were playing like ourselves again, playing at that pace, playing with that confidence, playing as a team like that. If we carry that over, we’re a hard team to beat.”

MSU and Wisconsin traded the lead 12 times and were tied 10 other times. Winston helped both seize momentum for the Spartans and stop the Badgers, hitting a 3-pointer as part of an 8-0 run near the end of the first half after Wisconsin went up by seven.

He saved his best for last in a battle of Big Ten player of the year candidates against Badgers big man Ethan Happ. Winston had a layup and a 3-pointer as part of a 12-0 run to prevent Wisconsin from pulling away in the first half, then helped get the Spartans the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 8:10 to play.

At the defensive end, the Spartans held the Badgers without a field goal for nearly 6 minutes until Brad Davison’s desperation 3-pointer with 10.4 seconds left. Happ scored 20 points on 10 of 20 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds, but the fifth-year senior forward was held scoreless over the final 6:02.

And the Spartans also managed to get out and run against Wisconsin, which generally prevents opponents from doing so. They had 13 fast-break points, with Winston feeding Nick Ward (12 points) with a 3/4-court, over-the-top pass that resulted in a three-point play with 15.7 seconds to play to finish off the Badgers.

“We just found that zone,” Winston said. “Winning time, that’s what we do – we make winning plays, rebounds, big stops, things like that.”

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.