Izzo and his Spartans have been stymied by Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan’s hard-nosed, find-a-way-to-win style of play since Ryan took over the Badgers in 2001, with three wins in 12 tries. On Thursday, No. 19 MSU will travel to No. 10 Wisconsin with hopes of increasing their NCAA and Big Ten Tournament stock.

“They’ve been a thorn in my side,” Izzo said. “Nobody has done that to us. Earlier it was an anger thing. Last year was tough because we played them well enough to beat them at their place.”

The Spartans met the Badgers three times last season. In the first meeting, when Wisconsin was the top-ranked team in the country, MSU defeated the Badgers at Breslin Center. The Spartans fell, 52-50, in Madison afterward and 70-57 in the Big Ten Tournament.

“I’d have to say that’s become one of our biggest rivalries in that respect,” Izzo said. “But they’ve earned it, they haven’t cheated through it.”

For the first time in what seems like ages, the Spartans come up against a team with experienced leaders, as the Badgers start four upperclassmen. Senior Brian Butch leads the team in scoring and rebounding.

“It’s going to be a battle,” senior center Drew Naymick said. “Those Wisconsin guys are physical and scrappy and very crafty with the way they use their hands and grab. It’s always a key against Wisconsin to be solid defensively and do what we can to attack them on offense.”

As of Wednesday, Wisconsin led the Big Ten in scoring defense and scoring margin, while the Spartans were second in scoring offense. The Spartans are coming off two of their best performances of the season in wins against Iowa and Penn State, averaging six turnovers per game in the two contests.

After losing Kammron Taylor and 2007 Big Ten Player of the Year Alando Tucker, the Badgers weren’t expected to make the strides they have this season. They didn’t break into the top 25 rankings until late November.

The Spartans also are hoping to shake the road problems they’ve had in the last few Big Ten seasons. In the last three seasons, the Spartans are 5-17 in conference road games.

“It’s a really tough environment,” senior guard Drew Neitzel said of Wisconsin. “We’ve played them tough there pretty much every game throughout my career. We just have to finish one now.”