Five Takeaways from No.8 Wisconsin's 86-74 Loss to No.14 Michigan State

MADISON, Wis. – It was a throwback game in a loud environment, one that Michigan State coach Tom Izzo thought was conjuring up ghosts of Kohl Center passed.

“Where the hell was Bo?" Izzo said. "It felt like old times here."

Fortunately for him, former UW coach Bo Ryan was far away in southern California and junior forward Tyler Wahl was on the end of Wisconsin’s bench with a boot on his injured right ankle. The latter was more impactful than the former Friday night, as No.8 Wisconsin saw its winning streak end at seven games following an 86-74 loss to No.14 Michigan State.

Missing a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, the Badgers (15-3, 6-2 Big Ten) had issues on both ends of the floor without one of their best players, exposing some depth and communication issues that will have to be addressed.

Here are my five takeaways from the Kohl Center

Wisconsin scored eight points in its first four possessions, strong offense that led to an 8-0 start that was helped along by Michigan State turning the ball over three times on four possessions. Over its next 20 possessions, the Badgers managed just seven points. When the game reached halftime, UW averaged a meager .79 points per possession.

UW missed 12 of its next 13 over a 7-minute lull, including a handful of looks in the low post. The Badgers only make during that stretch was Brad Davison getting a highly favorable bounce off the back iron for a 3-pointer.

“After that stretch, usually at the beginning of games, we lose our intensity sometimes and let teams come back,” guard Johnny Davis said. “We just completely lost it this game and allowed them to get a big lead.”

Michigan State wasn’t lighting the world on fire by any means. The Spartans went on just a 13-3 run during Wisconsin's cold streak, stymied by their own turnovers, but got things clicking on an 18-6 run later in the half that was mostly delivered via dribble penetration and free throws.

For one of the first times this season, Wisconsin looked like it was pressing and committed unforced errors on consecutive possessions (Chucky Hepburn’s pass out of bounds and Davis’s double dribble) that compounded the problem.

“Once we gave them confidence, a lot of their shots started to fall that were maybe more tough or more contested,” Davison said. “Not a great performance by us, but a lot of things we can learn from. (We) look forward to seeing them again in a couple weeks.”

Wisconsin was missing some sizeable offensive contributions without Wahl on the floor, especially after the junior was shooting 63.9 percent from the floor and averaging 15.3 points and 2.4 assists over the seven-game win streak. Friday emphasized that Wahl’s value to be the Badgers might be greater on the defensive end.

Wisconsin shot 60.9 percent in the second half but only outscored Michigan State by four because the Spartans were relentless attacking UW’s inexperience in the low post.

Even turning the ball over on 19.4 percent of their possessions, the Spartans still scored on almost 60 percent of their possessions and averaged 1.28 points per possession.

Michigan State scored 32 points in the paint, but the number is even greater because the Spartans drew a ton of fouls – 18 of them in fact – by getting into the lane and being aggressive at the rim. Michigan State went 22-for-28 from the line, more than doubling Wisconsin’s numbers of 10-for-11.

Without Wahl’s experience, the number of missed assignments and struggles with screens and switches led to a lot of easy looks at the rim for Michigan State.

Wisconsin was gashed on the boards, 39-20, and gave up 12 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds. As ugly as that was, 23 of those rebounds came in the first half when the Badgers missed 24 shots. The bigger issue was UW’s inability to stop Michigan State’s transition offense.

The Spartans outscored Wisconsin 12-0 in the first half on fast-break points and 21-2 for the game. The first number was a big reason for Michigan State leading 42-26 at the break, a lead the Badgers could never cut closer than six points.

“It took us too long to adjust to (the transition), a few guys seeing that for the first time,” UW coach Greg Gard said.

There also was the matter of Wisconsin bailing out Michigan State: playing decent defense for most of the shot clock and then either fouling or giving up an offensive rebound. UW taking a bad offensive shot that jumpstarted a transition opportunity also became a problem.

“We just gave up 86 points,” Davison said. “Scoring 74 points, you should win most of your games in this program. That’s what we pride ourselves on, the defensive side of the ball. There are a lot of different things we can work on that will definitely make it more sustainable for us.”

Sophomore forward Ben Carlson (1.6 ppg) took the place of Wahl in the starting lineup. The sophomore also started earlier this season when Davis was injured against Providence. He was 1-for-7 against the Friars and was 2-for-6 against the Spartans, including a couple of sloppy turnovers that led to points. Carlson had six points on six shots but played just eight minutes after an uneven first half.

“He needs to get more physical,” Gard said, pointing to the obvious. “That’s not going to change overnight. He needs to continue to get stronger and continue to work in the weight room.”

Gard also mixed and matched his lineup with reserves Lorne Bowman and Carter Gilmore. Bowman played OK with four points and two assists, but Gilmore was 0-for-3 that included a bad airball on a 3-point shot in the first half.

Gard was forced to play guard Jahcobi Neath at the four at the end of the first half, doing a decent job, but it was evident that the Badgers were crippled at the spot usually occupied by Wahl. Michigan State’s bench scored 43 points, while Wisconsin’s usual reserve players only scored 13.

“That’s why they are in a reserve role to try to support and supplement, but we have to get better,” Gard said. “Regardless of the outcome, we need more out of the bench on both of the floor, and more means we’ve got to continue to get better.”

Michigan State made sure to always give help defense on Davis, who was again challenged physically by Big Ten defenders. He was visibly frustrated in the first half when whistled weren’t called on his shot attempts as he started 3-for-13 from the floor.

“It was a little frustrating, but I can’t control what the refs see and what they call,” Davis said. “I was looking for teammates. They just couldn’t hit shots at a consistent rate.”

Davis was 5-for-7 in the second half and finished the game with 25 points on 20 shots. Davison added 22 but only one other player scored more than six points (Steven Crowl – 9)

“I thought we made Davis work for everything,” Izzo said. “He’s just a great player.”

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