National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan St 65, Wisconsin 52
When: 1:40 PM ET, Saturday, March 10, 2012
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Steve Oglesby, # Lamont Simpson, # Ted Valentine
Attendance: N/A

Michigan State 65, Wisconsin 52: Draymond Green had a team-high 14 points and 16 rebounds and Keith Appling added 13 points as Michigan State defeated the Badgers in the Big Ten tournament semifinals in Indianapolis.

The win was the Spartans’ third straight over the Badgers, who started hot but fell apart midway through the first half. Michigan State, the No. 1 seed, will advance to play the winner of Ohio State-Michigan in the championship game on Sunday.

The Spartans (26-7), who earned a three-way tie for the conference’s regular season crown, haven’t advanced to the Big Ten title game since 2000 — the year they won the national championship. Michigan State won back-to-back Big Ten championships in 1999 and 2000.

No. 4 seed Wisconsin (24-9), which had won the previous three conference tournament meetings, took a 20-9 lead with 10:19 left in the first half. But the Spartans, behind Green and Appling, closed the half on a 26-5 run to take a 35-25 halftime lead.

After falling behind by as many as 19 points, the Badgers pulled within 46-40 on Jordan Taylor’s 3-pointer with 12:19 left. However, they went scoreless over the next eight minutes, and Michigan State increased its lead to 58-40.

Austin Thornton finished with 12 points for the Spartans, who shot 50 percent and made 10 straight jumpers late in the first half as they built their lead.

Taylor had a team-high 19 points and Ryan Evans added 18 for Wisconsin, which shot 34 percent and was outrebounded 29-21. Rob Wilson, who scored a career-high 30 points in the Badgers’ quarterfinal win over Indiana, was held to just six points on 2-of-5 shooting.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Since winning the Big Ten tournament title in 2008, Wisconsin is just 1-4 in the event … Michigan State improved to 6-2 as a top seed and is now 17-12 overall in the conference tournament … The Badgers scored 20 points in the first 10 minutes but scored just 15 points over the next 20 minutes … Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was whistled for a technical foul with 16:52 left, with his team trailing 42-27 … Only five players scored for the Badgers, and two starters, Mike Bruesewitz and Josh Gasser, went scoreless.
Top Game Performances
 
Wisconsin   Michigan St
Jordan Taylor 19 Scoring Draymond Green 14
Mike Bruesewitz 3 Assists Keith Appling 5
Mike Bruesewitz 5 Rebounds Draymond Green 16
Jordan Taylor 5 Free Throws Made Draymond Green 8
Mike Bruesewitz 2 Steals Austin Thornton 2
Jared Berggren 1 Blocks Draymond Green 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Wisconsin 52 34.7 7-20 11-14 9 21 1 7 12
Michigan St 65 50.0 6-9 17-23 12 29 5 7 12