Michigan State Basketball: 3 quick reactions from gritty win over Wisconsin

Michigan State basketball found itself in a quarterfinal battle with Wisconsin. They had to play stingy defense in order to win. What did we notice?

Michigan State and Wisconsin wound up playing each other for the third time this season in the Big Ten Tournament and it was a defensive slug fest.

Nothing came easy in this game, especially the first half. No team was able to find a rhythm due to the other’s defense which resulted in Michigan State shooting 33 percent in the first half and Wisconsin shooting 25 percent with neither team making a three.

The Spartans showed a lot of toughness and grit in this game where physicality reigned supreme. These teams were battling and fighting for position down low and nothing came easy. They worked on toughness and battled for every loose ball and played a solid game. They did give up eight offensive rebounds in the first half but Wisconsin ended the game with 10 total so they did not get the second-chance points that they were getting in the first.

In the second half, the shots started to fall a little more. Wisconsin was able to hit a couple in a row early but the Spartans never gave up they were able to trade baskets and ended up taking the lead back. This is the kind of hard-fought win the Spartans needed to bolster their confidence going further in March.

With everything that happened in the game what are my reactions for this one?