Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes, bottom, Ethan Happ and Michigan State’s Gavin Schilling (34) battle …
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Junior guard Bronson Koenig was the game’s leading scorer. During some games Hayes would have a big day, while Koenig struggled and vice-versa. Forbes buried the three-pointer for a 70-68 lead.
Valentine led the way for the Spartans with 23 points, making four 3-pointers and also grabbing seven rebounds and handing out five assists.
Brown hit both free throws and UW was within two with 2:10 left.
The Badgers then went to a full-court press for the first time in the game, forcing a turnover as Eron Harris stepped out of bounds while double-teamed.
The Wisconsin Badgers picked up their biggest win of the season, beating the fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, 77-76.
Happ scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Nigel Hayes added 25 points for the Badgers.
Coming into the game, Wisconsin was just 9-9 and 2-4 since Bo Ryan’s retirement.
The Badgers trailed 36-31 when Hayes went to the bench with his second foul and Valentine hit two free throws with 3:16 to go in the first half.
Derrick Walton Jr. had 16 points for MI (13-5, 3-2).
The Spartans held a slim 76-72 lead with 1:28 remaining and they had control of the basketball, when an unorganized possession led to a poor shot by Valentine that the Badgers rebounded.
The Spartans had a final chance to win but Denzel Valentine missed a three-pointer and Matt Costello’s last-second side jumper bounced off the rim. The line opened at 6 but with 77% of public bettors backing MSU, the number climbed a half point.
For the Spartans, Valentine finished with a team-high 23 points despite not scoring his first basket of the game until there was just over six minutes left in the first half.
It was the second straight loss for Michigan State (16-3, 3-3 Big Ten), which got blown out at home by Iowa on Thursday.
Melvin Frazier scored 11 points and Malik Morgan had 10 for Tulane (8-11, 1-5), which has lost five of its last six games. Valentine knocked down two free throws for a 36-31 Spartan lead.
NOTES: Wisconsin has won 11 of the last 13 games against Michigan State at the Kohl Center in Madison….
MI finished 12-of-15 from the line, which didn’t please coach Tom Izzo, who said the Spartans failed to execute in many aspects.
Jordan Tolbert and Nic Moore scored 12 points each for the Mustangs (17-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference), who shot a season-worst 40.4 percent (21 of 52) and did not take the lead for good until Ben Moore’s running floater as he was fouled made it 33-30 with 12:41 to go.
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But it wasn’t enough in the end, as Wisconsin found a way to make one more play than their opponent and got the marquee win they’ve been so desperate to have.
