Nigel Hayes led all scorers with 25 points. MSU senior forward Branden Dawson and junior guard Denzel Valentine each scored 16 points in the loss.

Wisconsin was presumably playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament but for much of the game, MSU’s effort to defend as Big Ten tournament champions outweighed Wisconsin’s.

The game’s biggest matchup distinguished itself early on. Dawson and Wisconsin senior forward Frank Kaminsky went after each other for the first scores of the game. Statistically, Dawson went on to win the first half matchup, scoring eight points and stymieing Kaminsky’s offensive game.

Junior forward Matt Costello also played a huge role, sliding over to help Dawson after getting beat and swatting away two Kaminsky shots in the half.

While Wisconsin’s Naismith hopeful struggled to get things going, senior forward Duje Dukan provided invaluable minutes off the bench. He sparked Wisconsin in his 10 first half minutes, scoring eight points with a couple of huge threes. Dukan finished with 11 points.

Coming out of halftime with a 32-31 lead, MSU’s forwards did the early damage. Sophomore forward Gavin Schilling, Costello, and Dawson combined to score MSU’s first eight points of the half.

Kaminsky started to find solidify his footing in the second half but Costello’s strong defensive performance continued. He blocked Kaminsky for the third time with just under 13 minutes left.

Valentine found himself offensively as well, scoring five straight points to give MSU a 50-43 lead at the 11:39 mark, the largest lead for either team at the time. Following a steal and fast-break reminiscent of last year’s Big Ten tournament championship, Dawson found himself all alone and slammed home a dunk to put MSU up 11 with just under eight minutes to go.

No lead was safe, and Wisconsin charged right back with an 8-0 run to get the deficit to just two. The overwhelmingly predominant Wisconsin crowd was thunderous and Izzo had to take a timeout with 4:47 left.

The Badgers regained the lead, extending their run to 11 points. Wisconsin sophomore guard Bronson Koenig and freshman guard Lourawls Nairn traded threes and at the final media timeout, MSU led 62-60.

After a poor pass-ahead from Dawson, Kaminsky scored five straight points to put his team back on top, 67-64. The game’s final minute was a wild one, and Valentine answered the three with a triple of his own.

On the next possession, Trice hit a floater in the lane and once again, MSU led by two. Of course, Koenig hit two free throws to tie the game. Following two Wisconsin fouls to drain the clock, Dawson’s jumper to win at the buzzer rimmed out and five overtime minutes were put up on the clock.

In the extra period, the Badgers pounced on MSU. Hayes and Koenig tripled to give Wisconsin a six-point lead with two minutes left. MSU failed to score in overtime.