Big, bruising, ugly poetry.

Behind poor shooting, tough fouls and ugly free throw percentages was a basketball game hidden somewhere, one that the Spartans won 54-47 in front of a sellout crowd of 14,759 at Breslin Center.

“It was kind of like, ‘Were we that bad? Were we playing that tough?’” Ryan said. “Two teams went after each other. I’m sore just from watching. You’ve got two teams that are committed to (defense) like most teams are. They got more buckets, so they were on the left-hand side.”

The No. 10 Spartans (12-3 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) saw their league-high 82.4 points per game nearly slashed in half while the No. 17 Badgers (12-3, 2-1) improved on their 56.4 points per game scoring defense, which ranks fourth in the nation.

“I thought, the first half, we could have been up a little more if we make a layup or some free throws,” Izzo said. “It was a good win for us at home and one that I think will help us because we learned how to win a very gritty way.”

Chris Allen led the Spartans with 16 points in a game that was void of fellow junior guard and preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas’ offensive touch for nearly the duration. Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer led all scorers with 21.

The game took its turn toward the typical ugly fashion from the get-go as neither team eclipsed double-digits on the scoreboard by the first media timeout. Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first half.

The Badgers were forced to heave last-ditch efforts against a waning shot clock on a number of occasions throughout the game. Meanwhile, the Spartans were taking high-percentage shots early, but just weren’t knocking them down.

One that did fall, though, was a smooth cross-over move from sophomore forward Delvon Roe against Wisconsin’s Jared Berggren which led to an and-one situation Roe converted to give MSU a 15-7 lead at the 7:46 mark in the first half.

As they always have under Ryan, the Badgers pestered and bothered the Spartans for the full 40 minutes, but never managed a lead.

Two 3-pointers from Wisconsin leading scorer Trevon Hughes helped the Badgers keep it close, as the visitors went into the locker room trailing just 22-20.

Hughes went to the free-throw line early in the second half with a chance to give the Badgers their only lead of the game, but missed both. Lucas responded with two free throws and Allen hit a key 3-pointer, extending MSU’s lead to five.

But the half turned into the Jon Leuer Show, as he put the Badgers on his back — scoring 15 of the team’s 20 points in the first 14 minutes of the half to keep it close.

“We needed him to do that in the second half or there would have been a lot of separation because some guys were struggling a little bit,” Ryan said. “Jon took some pretty good shots, had his balance. When he does that, he shoots a pretty high percentage.”

But with less than eight minutes to go, sophomore forward Draymond Green scored back-to-back short baskets, upping the MSU lead to five. On the ensuing possession, Green tipped a long-distance pass out from under the basket to streaking senior forward Raymar Morgan, who was fouled on the way up.

The crowd rose to its feet and, in a game that was so low-scoring, it was an impossible hole for the Badgers to climb out of.

“I tried to help my team in whatever way I could,” said Green, who finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. “I saw Raymar fill the lane … and we needed Raymar to get going at that point so I tried to hit him and get him going and it worked out for us.”