EAST LANSING, Mich. _ No. 6 Michigan State built a big lead in the first half, let it nearly disappear in the early part of the second, but held on for a 76-61 victory over Wisconsin on Friday night at Breslin Center.
The Spartans (19-3, 7-2 Big Ten) built an 18-point lead early, then watched as the Badgers chipped it to six with a 19-9 run to start the second half.
However, Cassius Winston then hit three 3-pointers, Miles Bridges drained another and Jaren Jackson Jr. scored seven of his 11 points in the final 3:02 to seal MSU's third straight win since losing to Michigan on Jan. 13.
Bridges finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, and Winston had 13 of his 17 points in the second half and added six assists. Nick Ward finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Ethan Happ had 23 points and seven rebounds for Wisconsin (10-12, 3-6).
MSU's defense stymied the Badgers early and often.
Wisconsin hit just three of its first 21 shots in the first 14-plus minutes, going long stretches without a field goal.
Meanwhile, the Spartans scorched the nets. They finished the first half shooting 55.2 percent, making 16 of 29 attempts despite going only 3 for 11 on 3-point attempts.
Bridges scored 15 points, while Ward had 10 points and 10 rebounds at half.
Everything flipped at halftime, and it was the Spartans who were struggling to score.
MSU made just 3 of its first 11 shots, while the Badgers went on their early run. Layups by Brad Davison and Happ cut the Spartans' lead to 46-40 with 9:46 to play.
But Winston answered with a 3-pointer, then Bridges hit another about 2 minutes later. Winston then made 3s on back to back possessions to extend the MSU lead to 59-44 with 4:26 to play.
Jackson finished with four blocks and overtook the single-season MSU career mark for blocks. He now has 75, breaking Ken Johnson's old record of 72 set in 1984-85.
The Spartans had nine blocks, all by Jackson and Ward.
