Wisconsin came into Breslin Center in East Lansing hoping to exact some revenge for Michigan State‘s rare win in Madison on January 3, but left after a worse thumping than their loss at the Kohl Center. The Spartans are peaking right now, playing the kind of defense Tom Izzo loves to see and executing game plans exceptionally. Here are a few things that stood out in the Spartans’ 69-55 victory Thursday night.

Branden Dawson and Michigan State made another statement Thursday against Wisconsin. (Al Goldis/AP)

1. Keith Appling’s performance — The sophomore guard is vital to Michigan State’s chances of winning the conference championship and advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament, and he showed why on Thursday night. He controlled the Spartans’ offense (four assists and just two turnovers in 35 minutes), got into the lane, and was equally — if not more — important on the defensive end. Appling proved last season he could be one of Michigan State’s perimeter defenders and kept Wisconsin star Jordan Taylor out of sorts the entire evening (Taylor finished with just three field goals). The Spartans don’t need Appling to put up 20 points every game, but if he can be reliable defensively, keep the team’s offensive flow in rhythm and remain a threat to get to the hoop, he takes this team to another level.
2. Wisconsin’s balanced scoring — There weren’t too many good things for Wisconsin to take away from this one, but one positive aspect was the balanced offensive attack. Three Badgers (Jordan Taylor, Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren) scored in double figures, which is a key that was highlighted as Wisconsin came back from a rare three-game losing streak earlier in the season and rattled off six straight wins. You can count on Jordan Taylor to step up every night, but it’s the performance from his supporting cast that dictates how well this team can play.
3. Michigan State’s fast break — The combination of playing in the Big Ten and Tom Izzo’s reputation for a grind-it-out style of basketball has led many to believe over the years that the Spartans would rather slow it down than get out and run. But the truth is, Izzo’s best teams have been able to execute the fast break and that showed on Thursday, as Michigan State outscored Wisconsin 15-0 on the break. The key for the Spartans is Keith Appling, who is as quick a point guard with the ball as the Spartans have seen in years. It was doubly impressive to score that many on the break against Wisconsin, which is consistently steady defensively on all fronts.
4. Wisconsin’s title hopes — The Badgers entered this game in fourth place in the conference, with an outside chance of catching Ohio State and Michigan State, but badly needed this win in East Lansing. With the loss, they drop to a full two games back of the Buckeyes and Spartans, with just five games remaining. They can’t afford to slip up again, and probably need to upset Ohio State in Columbus when the two teams meet on February 26 to have a chance at the title.

jnowak (138 Posts)

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 2:22 pm by jnowak and is filed under big ten, microsites. Tagged: bo ryan, jordan taylor, Keith Appling, michigan state, tom izzo, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.