Johnny Davis had 25 points, six rebounds and three assists as No. 14 Wisconsin avenged a home loss to No. 17 Michigan State by defeating the Spartans in East Lansing, Mich., 70-62, on Tuesday.
Tyler Wahl contributed 11 points and five rebounds, and Chucky Hepburn added 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Badgers (19-4, 10-3 Big Ten). Wisconsin has won 11 of its last 13 games.
Michigan State won 86-74 in Madison, Wis., on Jan. 21.
Marcus Bingham Jr.’s 15 points led the Spartans (17-6, 8-4), who lost their second straight. They were defeated 84-63 by Rutgers on Saturday. Malik Hall was the only other Michigan State player in double figures with 12 points.
The Badgers shot 47.2 percent from the field, while the Spartans finished at 41.5 percent and committed 12 turnovers.
Wisconsin held Michigan State to 32 percent shooting in the first half and established a 29-23 halftime lead.
The first 3-pointer for either team was made by Davis with 4:58 left in the half. That gave Wisconsin a 21-13 lead.
The Badgers also made the second 3-pointer of the contest, a Lorne Bowman II shot to make it 26-19. Hepburn’s trey with 12 seconds remaining extended the lead to 29-21 advantage.
Bingham, who scored 11 points prior to the break, banked in a long two-pointer just before the buzzer.
Brad Davison’s first points of the game, a 3-pointer four minutes into the second half, extended Wisconsin’s lead to 35-25.
Michigan State began chipping away at the deficit and was within 43-38 on A.J. Hoggard’s 3-pointer. Joey Hauser’s putback cut the Badgers’ lead to one, 45-44.
Davis’ 3-pointer with 7:17 left pushed the advantage to five, and Hepburn’s mid-range shot about two minutes later had Wisconsin up 57-51.
Wahl scored in the lane to make it an eight-point game with 2:31 left. Davis’ layup with 1:46 remaining put the game away.
–Field Level Media
