Michigan State coach Tom Izzo didn’t need many words to sum up Wisconsin’s 92-71 win over his Spartans on Friday night.
“First of all, that was a good, old-fashioned, a**-kicking, to be honest with you,” Izzo began. “Give them credit. Well-coached, those guards played well. One of my favorite guards in the league, (John Blackwell), didn’t even play half the first half.”
Wisconsin controlled the contest from the opening tip. It built a double-digit first-half lead, held a 17-point advantage at halftime, led by as many as 24 and closed with the 21-point margin. As Izzo noted, the Badgers did that with Blackwell playing limited first-half minutes. Still, the star guard finished with 24 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting 6-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-9 from 3. Nick Boyd, the Badgers’ other backcourt star, tallied a game-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3…