Michigan State falls to Wisconsin, 80-69

March Madness was in full swing with the Big Ten Championship on the line. Unfortunately for Michigan State fans, victory was not in the cards for them. In a thrilling Championship game, Wisconsin defeated Michigan State, 80-69 in overtime and are the new Big Ten Champions.

It was two weeks ago when Michigan State and Wisconsin met in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers walked away with a seven point victory over MSU and dominated on the boards. Out hustling the Spartans down the stretch and converting 80 percent of their free throws helped the Badgers secure their victory.

Much like their first meeting, this was a tough and hard-fought game between two teams that gave it their all until the very end and Wisconsin proved to be the better team, again.

The first half of championship game was a close one as Michigan State held a 32-31 lead. Michigan State was led by Branden Dawson and Bryn Forbes who combined for 15 points and three assist.

Michigan State assisted on eight of their first 12 makes and were plus six in the rebounding margin. They were also perfect from the line, knocking down their first six attempts.

More from Detroit Jock City

The Spartans were able to get seven players into the scoring column before the half and got the ball inside, having a plus six points in the paint in the first half.

As well as MSU played, Wisconsin was with them every step of the way. Duje Dukan, Frank Kaminsky and Nigel Hayes combined for 23 of the Badgers 31 first half points.

Attacking the paint continued in the second half for MSU. Considered a jump shooting team, they started the second half on a 6-0 run with all six points coming in the paint.

It was a total team effort in Wisconsin’s victory. They were able to raise their level of play the last five minutes of the game and looked like the better team in every aspect of the game, including free throws.

Denzel Valentine found his shot in the second half and finished with 16 and eight rebounds. Even though he had his hands full with Kaminsky, Branden Dawson still managed to score 16 and pull down seven rebounds.

After MSU made their run, Wisconsin took over. The Badgers put on a 27-6 run erased an 11 point deficit in what seemed like a matter of seconds and sent the game into overtime.