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Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from slim victory over Wisconsin

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball during a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half at Breslin Center on January 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball during a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half at Breslin Center on January 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Despite plenty of off-court distractions, Michigan State basketball was able to eke out a win over Wisconsin in the season finale.

This season has been a mess for Michigan State basketball. The Spartans have had to fight off-court distractions while playing a condensed schedule, which has been brutal on all teams in the Big Ten, and yet they have won 12 straight games on their way to an outright conference title.

Tom Izzo and the Spartans have dealt with questions regarding the ESPN ‘Outside the Lines’ report and now must fend off doubt regarding Miles Bridges and $400 his mother allegedly received from agent broker Christian Dawkins, per Yahoo! Sports.

Michigan State has been locked in, for the most part, and took care of business against the Badgers on Sunday afternoon to win the outright Big Ten title.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the win.

5. Nick Ward’s defense has improved tremendously

There was a time earlier in the Big Ten season when Michigan State’s post defense was looked at as vulnerable. Nick Ward received a lot of criticism for his inability to defend against screens and he’d been labeled “slow” and was considered a weak link on the defensive end.

Jaren Jackson Jr. was always considered a top-notch defender as he could shut down the paint as well as step out to the 3-point line.

On Sunday, Ward was matched up with Ethan Happ and played one of his best defensive games of the season, helping to hold the Wisconsin star to 6-of-17 shooting. He wasn’t just locked on Happ as he defended against multiple Wisconsin bigs, but he did a heck of a job limiting easy baskets and although he picked up four fouls, a number of them could have gone either way.

Ward did a tremendous job managing Happ’s aggressiveness down low and keeping him away from a 20-point showing which would have given Wisconsin a win. He’s improved tremendously on the defensive end recently.

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