No. 8 MSU leads Wisconsin 32-23 at the half. MSU was led in the first half by senior guard Denzel Valentine who had nine points and seven assists. Wisconsin was led by junior guard Zak Showalter with six points.
MSU and Wisconsin are two of the hottest teams in the conference coming into the game, with Wisconsin having won its past seven games and MSU having won five of its past six games with its only loss being by one-point to Purdue on Feb. 9.
MSU wasted no time in looking to avenge its 77-76 loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 17 as MSU scored the first five points of the game with a Forbes three and an alley-oop from Valentine to senior forward Matt Costello.
After a three by Wisconsin senior guard Bronson Koenig to cut MSU's lead to 5-3, MSU went on another 9-0 run to take a 14-3 lead behind solid defensive play as Wisconsin shot just 1-of-9 from the floor over the first seven minutes of action. Wisconsin ended the first half just 7-of-28 from the floor including 2-of-9 from the 3-point line.
After that defense took hold on both ends over the next six minutes as MSU extended its lead to 20-10 heading into the under eight minutes timeout. After the timeout MSU continued its stellar play as it took a commanding 28-14 lead.
MSU shot 48.1 percent in the first half including 40 percent from behind the three point line. MSU also continued its amazingly unselfish play as the team assisted on 11 of the team's 13 made baskets in the first half.
MSU out rebounded Wisconsin in the first half 20-15 with Costello leading the way with five rebounds to go along with his two points.
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