For the sixth-straight game, a Spartan opponent made at least 49 percent of its shots. The Badgers went beyond that, shooting 59 percent from the floor and 64.7 percent from behind the 3-point line.

“You have to give them credit,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo told Spartan Sports Network after the game. “(Wisconsin guard Jordan) Taylor hit, I swear, four by himself with (junior forward Draymond Green) on him, and they made some shots. I thought our defense was better than it was against Iowa, and yet the score doesn’t look like it.”

To MSU’s credit, the opponent made many tough shots, as has been the case in many of its recent losses.

“I just couldn’t believe some of the shots they made,” Izzo said.

The Badgers (17-5 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) were led by a career-high 30 points from guard Jordan Taylor, who made three of his four 3-point attempts. Forward Jon Leuer scored 20 points.

The Spartans (13-10, 5-6) were led by senior guard Kalin Lucas’ 20 points, his fourth-straight game with at least 17 points.

Junior forward Draymond Green had 13 points and two rebounds. The Spartans were outrebounded by Wisconsin, 24-18.

Sophomore center Derrick Nix got the start after back-to-back solid performances but didn’t have the same success against the Badgers. Nix gave up back-to-back 3-pointers to Wisconsin forward Keaton Nankivil, which gave the Badgers an early 8-2 lead.

A Lucas jumper would cut the Wisconsin lead to 10-9 with 13:07 to play in the half, but that was as close as the Spartans were all day. The Badgers went on an 14-2 run and never looked back.

“I thought Kalin played awfully well, we played him almost the whole game,” Izzo said. “We just missed some shots and still shot decent the first half, but they just made every shot they threw up.”

Only four Badgers scored in the first half, but Wisconsin led, 43-25, at the half. Leuer and Taylor outscored the Spartans with 31 points combined.

In the second half, the Wisconsin lead stretched to as much as 33 before it mercifully came to an end.

“I haven’t seen that on film like what I saw tonight,” Izzo said of Taylor. “If he makes those shots, he’s an NBA player right now. His strength really helped him. I thought he hit some incredible acrobatic shots, he hit some late threes.

“There were very few shots he hit that weren’t tough shots. Give him credit, he made them.”

Sunday’s loss was the first time since 1996 that MSU lost back-to-back games by at least 20 points.

That team — Izzo’s first as head coach — lost three in a row by more than 20.

“They made some shots, that’s all I can say,” Izzo said. “We’re just going to keep battling along here and see if we can get back on the winning track. I think that’s one thing that would really help us and we’d go from there.”