The No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers ended their week with a strong performance, defeating the Michigan State Spartans at home 81-66, with strong performances on both ends.
In the win, the Badgers shot the ball with much better efficiency, hitting 50.9 percent of their shots from the field and 36 percent from three-pointers while averaging 1.35 points per possession on the day.
Defensively, the Badgers allowed the Spartans to shoot just 41.7 percent from the field while Michigan State scored just 1.01 points per possession on the day.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers' 81-66 victory over the Michigan State Spartans.
Chucky Hepburn
Chucky Hepburn didn't score a single field goal until the final minute on Monday, securing the Badgers' three-point win.
Why is he doing the column tonight? Well, Hepburn's main job on Friday wasn't to take over the offense, but rather to make life as difficult as possible for Michigan State guard Tyson Walker, and he succeeded.
Hepburn limited Walker to 11 points on 4/14 shooting, but his presence was felt much deeper than in the stats.
Hepburn stuck to his task in a fierce battle, working hard off the ball while Walker went through screens both with and without the ball to break free but nothing stuck.
The Badgers guard finished the game with three steals, effectively shutting down Michigan State's leading scorer and main lifeline.
If Walker is able to operate at his normal speed, this will be a much tighter ball game. But Hepburn was an integral part of Wisconsin's defensive approach, taking on the toughest task and playing extremely hard in that regard to limit Walker's influence.
Rating across the board
The Badgers had a successful first half, scoring 43 points on 55.6 percent shooting and taking a nine-point lead at halftime.
However, it was a close game for much of the first half until Wisconsin slowly pulled away with an 11-6 lead starting with 5:13 left in the quarter when the Badgers' bench came to life.
Connor Essegian and Nolan Winter each made a three-pointer, while John Blackwell had a jump shot and a converted AND-1 for all 11 points in the period.
The bench was crucial for the Badgers in this game, as the group scored a total of 22 points compared to just four for Michigan State's bench players.
And that meant all of Wisconsin's starters played at least 29 minutes.
Connor Essegian had eight points, made two three-pointers and had another good mid-range jumper on 3/4 shooting.
Nolan Winter also pulled the trigger with two three-pointers, while John Blackwell had five points and Carter Gilmore had three.
That’s the difference with this year’s Badgers team; They are much stronger than last year's squad, meaning they can rely on their backup unit when needed, and they made the difference in Friday's game.
Paint defense
The Badgers entered this game with some defensive issues, as they ranked second to last in the Big Ten in opponent field goal and three-point percentage, while the Spartans were one of the conference's better shooting teams, shooting over 47 percent of their shots and 36 percent of their threes.
Well, on Friday, Wisconsin held Michigan State to just 66 points and 41.7 percent from the field. It's even more impressive when you consider that the Spartans shot even better from the three-point line (42.9 percent) than from the interior line.
The Badgers were phenomenal with their defense, stopping a lot of shots after Michigan State missed early sights, which led to difficult chances for the Spartans that they ultimately couldn't convert.
Michigan State shot just 41.3 percent on two-shots and had just 12 free throws while going an ugly 7/19 on layups.
The Badgers did everything right defensively on Friday, and in that regard it was a strong performance as the team is on the right track heading into a tough week against Nebraska and Purdue.