Bench players provided moments of much-needed spark for No. 20 Wisconsin on Tuesday night against No. 11 Michigan State, but their performance remains a work in progress.

Reserves scored 13 first-half points for Wisconsin and only two in the second half during the Badgers’ 67-59 loss against Michigan State.

Brevin Pritzl boosted the Badgers during a three-minute span in the first half. The junior guard, who entered Tuesday with a 4.8 points-per-game average, scored 7 points before halftime. He drained two free throws to put Wisconsin up 25-23 with 6 minutes, 56 seconds to go, and hit a 3-pointer on the Badgers’ next possession to increase the lead 28-23.

Pritzl had a dunk on a fast break off a steal by Brad Davison to increase Wisconsin’s lead to 32-25 with 3:50 left in the first half.

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard liked the effort off the bench against the Spartans, and said they’re stepping up. He said they’ll rack up minutes, depending on match-up situations and who’s playing well at any given time.

“Do whatever is needed,” Gard said. “Charlie (Thomas), obviously, with the match-ups with their bigs, it was a good match-up for him. Kobe (King), it’s one of the better games he played. Defensively, he’s starting to figure things out, starting to mature and grow, where he can be more trustworthy on that end.

“I thought we got good play from our bench tonight.”

Charlie Thomas scored two points, had two rebounds, one block and one steal on Tuesday night. King matched a Big Ten high in points with six against Michigan State.

King, a freshman guard, said he’s feeling more confident. Helping Badgers’ standout Ethan Happ in the latter stages of games is one of the team’s priorities.

“Especially these last few games, coach Gard has been urging the bench to be more aggressive,” King said. "He needs production out of us to kind of help lift the weight off the shoulders of Ethan, because he carries a heavy load."