Few things go together like the month of March and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.
His Spartans team used a second-half comeback to rattle off their fifth consecutive win and fourth in a row over a ranked opponent with a 71-62 win over No. 11 Wisconsin.
Michigan State trailed by two at the half before outscoring Wisconsin by 11 in the second half.
Jase Richardson played an instrumental role in that, as the freshman point guard finished with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Richardson’s vision and awareness in the second half truly turned the game on its head and gave the Spartans all the momentum.
Michigan State as a team outrebounded Wisconsin 51-40, including 13-8 on the offensive glass.
Jaden Akins was the leading scorer for Michigan State with 19 points. Akins scored 14 of his 19 in the first half, so he was rather quiet in the second half of the game.
Jaxon Kohler finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds, good for his seventh double-double of the season.
Coen Carr finished with just four points, but the points came on two explosive dunks that nearly took the roof off the building, including this one where he didn’t even need to take a dribble.
John Blackwell led the Badgers in scoring with 20 points, his third straight game with 19-plus point.
John Tonje scored nine points in the first half before scoring just two in the second half and finishing the game with 11. Tonje averages 19.5 points per game, and he was kept well below that.
Nolan Winter was a monster on the glass for Wisconsin, as he collected 17 of the teams 40 rebounds. He averages just 5.7 rebounds per game, so 17 from him was a dominant performance.
Michigan State has a winnable game Thursday on the road against Iowa before a showdown against rival Michigan that will determine the winner of the Big 10 regular season championship.
