Michigan State Basketball He was in a tender mood at Christmas.
No. 9 Wisconsin scored 24 points from 14 turnovers while 11th seed Spartans collapsed, 85-76Friday in East Lansing is scheduled to drop to 0-2 to open the Big Ten.
D’Mitrik Trice, brother of ex-MSU star Travis, scored 20 points from his season high of 29 in the second half to lead the Badgers (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten) to their first win at Breslin Center since 2004.
After a perfect finish without conference play, MSU (6-2, 0-2) takes on Minnesota at 8pm on Monday. The chances of winning a fourth consecutive regular season title at the Big Ten fade after losing the first Christmas Day match in the show’s 122-season history.
Wisconsin closed in a 14-7 run during the last four minutes plus. Trice gave Jonathan Davis’ wrong pass to lift the field to 77-69 with 1:40 play, after Alem Ford saved him behind the back to keep the ball in play.
Joy Hauser of Wisconsin scored the highest in his career with 27 points, with seven rebounds for Spartans. Aaron Henry added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, but made seven turnovers.
Nate Reoffers, who failed to score any goals in the first half, scored eight points and saved a major second-half blow for Wisconsin. Ford added 13 points before spoiling, and Mika Potter and Brad Davison accumulated 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
The Badgers made four turns in the first two extra minutes, but the Spartans failed to take advantage of Thomas Keither’s opening layup. Wisconsin turned it again only in half.
Meanwhile, Michigan State University has started handing it over when the Badger has settled. The Spartans gave him seven times in a 10-minute mid-span, leading to 14 Wisconsin points. However, both teams shot the ball well into the half and neither of them managed to get away by more than five, courtesy of 8-0 Badgers that included 3 consecutive throws from Potter and Ford, both of which stopped MSU’s turns.
Spartans responded late in the half, and Hauser scored seven of 11 points in the first half in the 5:38 final. His two free throws tied at 43.4 seconds before the first half of the match.
Davison drained a triple pointer over Foster Lower nearly 18 seconds ago, but Lauer answered at the other end just before time was up to send the teams to a 42-42 tied break.
Spartans fired 58.6% in the first half, and Badgers 53.6%. Their combined score of 84 was the highest in the first half of the two schools at 52 meetings over the past 25 years, according to ESPN statistics and information.
MSU maintained its momentum after the end of the first half with the first nine points, including Joshua Langford 3-pointers and Hauser free throws to give Spartans a 51-42 lead only 3:35 in the period.
This is when Trice came back to life.
The fifth-year-old, with his brother and parents among those allowed to enter Priceline for the first time this season, cut the MSU 12-0 streak with a 3. Pointer 3. He was then followed by a mid-range jump, four-point play from Langford’s third foul, and a throw Another, two free throws. He had 13 points in just over four minutes to propel the Badger forward, 57-56.
Teams traded ahead from there, before Wisconsin finally got the Reuvers with six straight points in the 10-1 round to rebuild a five-point lead with 6:19 remaining.
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