Takeaways from No.18 Wisconsin's 69-65 Loss to Michigan State

MADISON, Wis. – Chucky Hepburn was the first University of Wisconsin player in the media room, unshowered, white jersey soaked with sweat, ankles still wrapped, and a scowl across his face. His shuffle to the middle chair on the podium told the story, and his voice reaffirmed his body language.

The sophomore was frustrated, upset about his choices, and annoyed that the Badgers gave away two five-point leads in the final 5:45 against Michigan State.

“Just little mistakes that we did,” Hepburn said. “We gave up, like, 17 points in the last 10 possessions. We can’t have those errors.”

In truth, it was 17 points in the final nine possessions for Michigan State, which ran its winning streak to seven games by knocking off Wisconsin, 69-65, at the Kohl Center. It was a winnable game that the Badgers (11-4, 3-2 Big Ten) let slip through their fingers, a game it should have won even though senior Tyler Wahl (ankle) missed his second straight game and a result that could haunt them at the end of the season.

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Wisconsin’s night started off on the wrong foot, giving up two three-pointers on the opening two possessions, but the Badgers appeared to settle in better than they did in Saturday’s loss at Illinois.

Playing without senior Wahl for a second consecutive game, the Badgers were playing a lot better in terms of their defensive rotation, communication, and grit to erase the early deficit.

That all changed on the final seven possessions; a critical stretch covering the final 3:53 where the Spartans scored on each trip down the court, totaling 14 points that erased UW’s five-point lead.

It’s a rare misstep for Wisconsin, which entered the game 6-2 in games decided by five points or less this season and 18-5 in such games the last two years. Of course, UW has had Wahl on the floor for all those contests.

There were multiple problems on the final possessions, starting with UW’s defense on Malik Hall. The senior had just eight points and five rebounds, but he converted on two shots from the free throw line when Max Klesmit lowered his arm onto Hall on a drive to the hoop instead of extending straight up. The foul led to two free throws and Hall converted again in the paint on the next possession.

UW still led by one but Joey Hauser – the senior from Stevens Point – took advantage of Carter Gilmore getting stuck on a screen to hit an open three-pointer from the elbow, putting Michigan State up, 62-60, with 2:20 remaining.

“When I looked up, Gilmore was further behind than he had been all night,” Gard said.

Steven Crowl (19 points) and Hepburn (14) each hit jumpers on the next two possessions to knot the score at 64, but guard A.J. Hoggard (who made a driving layup on a crossover dribble against Crowl to make the score 64-62) drove into the lane, pivoted, and stepped under Crowl’s outstretched hand to bank one in off the glass with 43 seconds left. The Spartans wouldn’t trail again.

“I should have stopped him there at the end,” Crowl said. “He’s a tough guard because he’s so big and comes downhill and causes mismatches. He’s a tough guard for sure, but I should have had that at the end and stopped him.”

Over the final seven possessions, Hall (senior), Hauser (senior), Hoggard (junior), and Tyson Walker (senior) scored all the points, and Michigan State made its final eight shots from the field.

“Our experience helped us,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Experience matters, it really does, especially in this day and age.”

Hepburn has made a lot of big shots in his career, and has received some fortunate bounced on a few of them (see last season’s bank shot vs. No.8 Purdue). He got no such luck against the Spartans.

He shook off a slow first half by making or assisting on nine of UW’s first 11 points and hit that vital jumper to tie the score at 63 with 1:09 left. Perhaps that’s why Hepburn decided to go for a quick shot with 32 seconds left, a decision that was ill-timed and a shot that was poorly executed.

Trying to be the hero and put UW up one, Hepburn’s contested three-point try was nowhere close and, with nobody close to contesting for the rebound, led to an easy change of possession for the Spartans, which promptly made two free throws to make it a two-possession game.

“I was just thinking quick shot,” Hepburn said. “I don’t know.”

Head coach Greg Gard said he was trying to call a timeout to set up a play, but Hepburn had already released the ball before he could signal for one. Gard was also trying to sub in Connor Essegian, who was UW’s best three-point shooter Tuesday in going 3-for-4 but wasn’t on the floor because of his defense.

When asked if he wanted something different in that situation, Gard simply said “yeah.”

Hepburn challenged himself following the Illinois game to play more aggressively with Wahl sidelined. He achieved that by drawing a team-high four fouls, getting to the free throw line, and going 4-for-5 (the rest of the team went a combined 2-for-3), but the sophomore finished 4-for-11 from the floor with three of UW’s five turnovers. His minus-9 rating was the worst on the team.

“We should have been able to close that out, and that’s on all of us, not on one or two people,” Crowl said. “All of us did little things down the stretch that didn’t help us.”

After being hounded by Illinois, limited to five points, and suffering a handful of blown defensive assignments, Essegian took to Twitter late Saturday night to offer his take on UW’s loss at Illinois: “Learned a lot today. Best is yet to come. Fuel the fire.”

Tuesday was a sign of baby steps. The freshman entered the night still leading the conference reserves in scoring (10.1) and nearly eclipsed that total in the opening half with 10 points. Once again, things changed in the second half with Izzo putting Tyson Walker – the Spartans’ best defender – on the freshman. The result was just three points (UW’s only bench points in the second half) and just two shot attempts.

“They put their best defender on him, and he wasn't giving him any daylight,” Gard said. “We tried to loosen him up on a few things and Walker did a good job on him.”

Essegian said after that he wasn’t trying to force anything, just playing within the natural flow of the offense, and dealing with the increased level of play in the Big Ten as the Spartans tighten things up on him defensively.

“The physicality and speed is different when it’s the Big Ten for a reason,” Essegian said. “It’s known for that. It’s definitely been eye-opening for me, just these last two games just to see how physical and how different this league is compared to everywhere else in the country.”

The absence of Wahl is impacting Wisconsin in a number of negative ways, one of which is shortening the Badgers' already inexperienced rotation even further. Gilmore – usually one of the first substitutes off the bench for Wisconsin - started for the second consecutive game and played nearly 29 minutes, finishing with five points, a rebound, and an assist.

One of the positives for Wisconsin was the bench was an asset in the first half. Markus Ilver is showing growth in the low post, Chris Hodges scored his first collegiate basket and drew a foul, and Isaac Lindsey – who had missed the last two games with an upper-body injury – was diving on the floor for loose balls and had a career-high four rebounds.

That trio played less than six minutes in the second half, as Gard choose to ride his more veteran players, but the production from the group helped the reserves outscore the starters, 17-14, in the first half.

“I thought we were better tonight than we were on Saturday,” Gard said, “which is encouraging for a coach to watch a team develop, specifically the guys off the bench I thought gave us a great boost in the first half … I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen from some guys getting better that aren’t in the main rotation that are working. It’s going to help us as time goes on.”

49 - Tuesday was the 49th meeting between Wisconsin and Michigan State since 2000, the Badgers' most-played opponent in that span (Illinois is next at 44).

52 - Either Wisconsin or Michigan State has been ranked in every meeting dating back to 1998.

52.7 – Michigan State’s shooting percentage at the Kohl Center last year when Wahl didn’t play because of an ankle injury.

52.3 – Michigan State’s shooting percentage against Wisconsin Tuesday

1 – Offensive rebounds by Michigan State in the second half off its nine missed shots.

7-0 – Michigan State’s advantage in fast-break points.

+15 – Michigan State finished with a 33-18 edge on the boards, similar to the meeting in Madison last year without Wahl when the Spartans finished +19

27 – Wisconsin scored 41.5 percent of its points off 14 Michigan State turnovers. MSU only had two points off five UW turnovers.

11 - Shot attempts for Jordan Davis in the last three games, including going 0-for-2 against the Spartans.

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