MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard told us his team had a very high ceiling. It took until February, but the Badgers are finally proving him right.

Never trailing on Friday, UW (18-7, 10-4) pulled off its second top-10 upset of the week, taking down No. 10 Michigan State (20-5, 10-4) 92-71 in convincing fashion as the fans stormed the Kohl Center floor.

“That was a good old fashioned ass kicking,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.

Wisconsin Got Its Pace and Never Looked Back

In an odd change of pace, Wisconsin did not need a big second-half rally on Friday.

Michigan State was not supposed to be the team you could run against. The Spartans have been outstanding all season at setting their defense and making teams play in the halfcourt. MSU entered Friday ranked No. 16 nationally in scoring defense, allowing 65.6 points per game.

The Badgers took them to the woodshed.

UW’s 92 points were the most surrendered by MSU to a high major opponent this season. The Badgers scored on 61 percent of their offensive possessions, averaged 1.44 points per possession, scored 10 points in transition, went 15-of-35 (42.9%) from 3-point range, and got 21 points from their bench.

“When the 3’s are dropping in, we’re a very hard team to guard,” said junior John Blackwell, who scored 24 points. “When the offense is playing like that, when we’re sharing the ball — that’s Wisconsin basketball. That’s who we are.”

Fears Was Held in Check

One of the hottest players in the Big Ten, Jeremy Fears didn’t get on the board until less than six minutes remaining in the first half. Wisconsin gave up some stuff late, but the sophomore guard still only finished with 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

To Fears’ credit, he did have 12 assists, three above his average, to just one turnover. In his previous five games, Fears had been averaging 22.3 points and 12 assists per game.

On top of that, the Badgers pretty much shut off the water everywhere else. MSU got just 14 points in the paint, the fewest UW has allowed this season.

“Their bigs with Kohler (Jaxon Kohler) and Cooper (Carson Cooper), we knew we were gonna have our hands full with the,” said junior Nolan Winter, who notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. “We made it a point of emphasis to play physical, wall up without fouling, just using our length against them. It was just trying to match their physicality or exceed it.

“I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

The Badgers Now Have Three of the Best Wins in the Country

If Wisconsin can parlay these performances into March…watch out.

The Badgers have now defeated three top-10 ranked teams, including victories over Michigan and Illinois on their home floors. In those wins, UW has averaged 91.6 ppg and made at least 15 3-pointers — the only team to do that in at least 20 years.

Recalling what happened to the Badgers in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, where they just ran into the wrong team, BYU, at the wrong time, we’re starting to wonder if UW can be one of those teams. The Badgers just put on an absolute offensive clinic against one of the top defenses in the country.

Right now, who wants to see Wisconsin in their region with the way this team can not only score, but the way they’re presumably never out of a game either?

“I think back to the interview we had after Villanova. Nolan was heartbroken, and we were just lost as a team,” said senior guard Nick Boyd. “We just came together. To have moments like this, it’s just beautiful. I’m so proud to be part of this team.

“We got way more moments to share together.”

Game Ball

Nick Boyd knocked down a 3-pointer with 16:23 left in the first half. And then, it was on.

The senior guard put together another masterclass, scoring a game-high 29 points (10-17) to go along with four assists and three rebounds. 20 of Boyd’s 29 points came in the first half, leading Wisconsin to a 48.4 percent shooting effort.

Again, this was a very talented Michigan State defense with some of the best stoppers in the Big Ten…It just didn’t seem to matter.

“Nick had a tremendous game,” UW head coach Greg Gard said.

Beyond the Box Score

1: Fears had 12 assists. The rest of the Michigan State team had just one.

1.59: Wisconsin averaged 1.59 points per possession in the first half.

5: The Badgers made their five three 3-point field goal attempts.

5:46: Fears’ first points came with 5:46 left in the first half.

6: Andrew Rohde scored the first six points for Wisconsin.

7: Carr had the first seven points for MSU.

12:20: UW’s first two-point field goal came at the 12:20 mark courtesy of Braeden Carrington.

14: The Spartans had just 14 points in the paint, a season-low allowed by UW.

15: UW used a 15-0 run to take a 32-14 lead with 8:51 remaining in the first half.

21: Blackwell had a +/- of 21 to lead UW.

21: UW had 21 points off nine MSU turnovers.

21: UW’s 21-point victory was its largest over a top 10 team since 1989.

39:13: The Badgers led for 39:13 and never trailed.

61: UW scored on 61 percent of its possessions.