3&Out: Michigan State shows resiliency in road win at Wisconsin

Michigan State (12-4, 4-1) extended its winning streak to seven games with a gritty 69-65 road victory at No. 18 Wisconsin (11-4, 3-2) at the Kohl Center on Tuesday night. With the victory, the Spartans moved into a first-place tie with Purdue (15-1, 4-1) atop the Big Ten standings. Michigan State closed this game on a 15-6 run in the last 3:53.

3&Out:

1. Michigan State is mentally tough

Late in the second half, when the Spartans were trailing by five points, and seemingly couldn’t go back-to-back possessions without making a mistake, it felt as if Michigan State was on the verge of throwing away a golden opportunity to get a quality Big Ten road victory. With eight turnovers in the second half, this Michigan State team looked like it didn’t have the capacity to complete a comeback bid against a Wisconsin team that was getting solid second-half production from Steven Crowl inside, and clutch shotmaking from Chucky Hepburn.

Then Michigan State’s veteran players flipped a switch. Seniors Joey Hauser and Malik Hall making plays on offense. Tyson Walker hitting free throws to seal it. AJ Hoggard making play after play with under two minutes remaining.

The Spartans were 8-of-8 on field goal attempts in the final 8:42 of the game.

Teams can’t do what Michigan State did without being mentally tough. We saw the Spartans show mental toughness at home last weekend in a 59-53 win over Michigan fueled by defense. In that game, when shots weren’t falling, the Spartans willed their way to a victory. A strong home crowd helped lift Michigan State.

This was different. Michigan State didn’t have the home crowd willing them to victory. The Spartans played this game at Wisconsin in front of a Kohl Center crowd that was giddy with the gritty effort being put forth by the Badgers, who played their second straight game without star forward Tyler Wahl.

Honestly, I am not sure if Michigan State truly deserved to win this game. There were significant stretches where the Badgers outplayed the Spartans. When it mattered, however, Michigan State rallied to claim a critical Big Ten road victory.

Games like this are the reason why Tom Izzo plays a brutal non-conference schedule.

When it mattered, Michigan State did not flinch.

2. Joey Hauser benefited from Tyler Wahl’s absence

Wisconsin senior Tyler Wahl is one of the most underrated defensive players in the Big Ten. He has size, length, he can move his feet, and he has a high basketball IQ. Wahl is critically important to Wisconsin on defense in helping to take away the mid-range jumper from the four-man. He is also good at cutting off driving lanes to the basket.

Wisconsin was fairly effective in overcoming Wahl’s absence in the scoring column. Freshman guard Connor Essegian gave the Badgers a lift in the first half with his perimeter jumper, and skilled 7-foot junior Steven Crowl had a strong second half.

Wahl’s absence on defense, however, hurt Wisconsin quite a bit. Hauser’s 20-point, eight-rebound performance for Michigan State was helped by Wahl being unavailable.

In the first half in particular, Hauser did the bulk of his scoring inside the 3-point line. He knocked down mid-range jumpers and he was able to get to the free-throw line by driving to the basket. Hauser was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in this game, and Michigan State needed each of those free throws from its senior forward. If Wahl had been available, Hauser would have had a much more difficult time putting the ball on the floor without turning it over.

That’s not a knock on Hauser. Michigan State saw a weakness in the Wisconsin defense and was able to exploit that weakness effectively. The Spartans certainly know what that’s like. Playing more than month without Malik Hall gave Michigan State a deeper appreciation for defensive versatility.

Coming off a forgettable shooting performance last weekend against Michigan in which he shot 3-of-13, including 1-of-7 from three, Hauser scored more efficiently than at any point in the Big Ten season. Hauser shot 6-of-8 overall, including 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point line. Hauser was also effective knocking down jumpers as the trailer on Michigan State’s secondary break. Each of his made jumpers as the trailer came via Mchigan State’s counterbreak after Wisconsin buckets.

This was a huge game for Hauser, playing in his home state of Wisconsin. He will likely feed off of it as Michigan State gets into a tough stretch of three games in six days.

3. Carson Cooper gave Michigan State good minutes

Few centers in the Big Ten were hotter than Steven Crowl was against conference opponents coming into this game. And Crowl was pretty darn good in this game, finishing with 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting. This wasn’t a bad night for junior center Mady Sissoko. He was solid defensively on Crowl and was able to give Michigan State six points and a team-high 11 rebounds in 23 minutes.

Sissoko couldn’t do it alone. He needed help in this game, especially when he was forced to the sideline for the final minute of the first half by a cut above his right eye created by one of Crowl’s elbows.

Freshman Carson Cooper was up to the task. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound center played 12 solid minutes coming off the bench. His length provided some rim protection while Sissoko was out.  Cooper finished with two rebounds and two blocked shots. He did not attempt a shot.

Crowl is a skilled 7-footer, so this was a game where Michigan State couldn’t go with a small lineup for long stretches of play. This was also a game in which freshman Jaxon Kohler struggled defensively. Twice in the opening half, Wisconsin bigs were able to get Kohler to leave his feet. And each time that happened, the Badgers scored field goals. Michigan State coaches preached discipline on defense. Kohler will learn from this.

Kohler played just four minutes in this game and Wisconsin is a tricky team to prepare for. Things can get sideways for post defenders quickly against the Badgers. With Kohler struggling, Michigan State needed a solid outing from Cooper and he delivered. Whereas Cooper isn’t nearly as skilled Kohler, he does move his feet pretty well, and he also possesses the length to match-up with 7-footers.

Kohler didn’t give Michigan State much in this game, but he was solid against Michigan last weekend. The good news for the Spartans coming out of this game, is that both of their freshman centers have now shown some growth against Big Ten opponents.