Michigan State basketball: Getting to know No. 13 Wisconsin

Michigan State basketball will be headed to Madison on Friday night to face the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers. Here’s what we know.

Michigan State basketball is back in action Friday night as they face off against the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison. The Spartans are feeling good about themselves, riding a three-game winning streak after their 61-59 win over Maryland.

Friday’s game will be a huge test to see where this Michigan State team is. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is tough no matter who you play, but Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the conference this season.

Before the game gets here, let’s take a look and see just how good Wisconsin has been this season.

Wisconsin’s season in review

The Badgers are off to an extremely strong start this season. Wisconsin comes into this game No. 13 in the country with an impressive 15-4 record and 7-1 mark in the Big Ten. They are also the No. 1 team in the conference and the lone Big Ten team with one conference loss.

Wisconsin has some very impressive wins this season, including a 70-57 win in East Lansing back in December. The Badgers have also had solid wins against Marquette and Virginia as well.

Their one Big Ten loss this season came on the road against Penn State. Now winning on the road is difficult to do in this conference, but Penn State is arguably the worst team in the conference. So that is a pretty bad loss for Wisconsin.

The Badgers are coming off a close 61-59 win at Minnesota on Tuesday. However, they are pretty fortunate to have won this game considering Minnesota shot 5-for-13 from the free throw line. There’s no doubt that Wisconsin is really good team, but I don’t think they are a team that Michigan State basketball should be afraid of.

Key players to watch

There are a lot of familiar faces on this Wisconsin team that have been around for quite some time. However, they are led by sophomore AJ Storr who is averaging 15.3 points per game. I’m sure you will recognize the names Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl as well. The two Wisconsin big men are both averaging over 11 points and five rebounds per game, but it’s Crowl who the Spartans really need to watch out for. Crowl is the best shooter on the team at 57.8% from the field and a blistering 52 percent from 3-point land.

One other player to keep an eye on is junior guard Chucky Hepburn. His stats don’t jump out at you, but he is the guy who gets the offense going for Wisconsin. He is the team leader in assists at 3.9 per game and when it gets down to crunch time, he tends to be “the guy” for the Badgers like Tyson Walker is for Michigan State.

This would easily be the best win for Michigan State if they are able to pull it out. A road win against the No. 1 team in the conference would bolster anyone’s resume. MSU needs these marquee wins added to their resume, and this is as good of a chance as they’ll have the rest of the season.