NCAAB Game Preview - Wisconsin at Michigan State

Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:00 PM EST

Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. have been a lot more assertive in recent games. That's a daunting prospect for Michigan State opponents, since both are projected to be lottery picks in the next NBA draft.

Wisconsin will have to figure out a way to slow down that duo when the Badgers visit East Lansing, Mich., to face the No. 6 Spartans on Friday.

Bridges, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, passed on being a likely first-round pick last June to pursue a national championship. In wins over Indiana and Illinois, Bridges averaged 26.5 points while shooting 76.9 percent from the field.

He poured in 31 points in an 87-74 victory at Illinois on Monday.

"Bridges was a man in every way, shape or form," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

Jackson, a 6-11 freshman, had a huge all-around game against the Illini, posting a career-high 21 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Jackson is averaging 16.5 points over the last four games, in large part because he is attacking the basket more often. He's made 29 free throws during that stretch, compared to five 3-pointers.

"Everybody looks at him as just a 3-point shooter," Izzo said. "He's far from that. (Against Illinois), because they pressured him so much, he was able to show he can put it on the floor. For a 6-11 guy to do that the way he did it was impressive."

The Spartans (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten) were nearly unstoppable offensively in the Illinois game -- when they didn't lose the ball, that is. They committed 25 turnovers, their most since coughing it up 27 times against Arizona in November 2005. Michigan State offset the sloppiness by shooting 68.2 percent from the field.

"For a young team to have to be in a fistfight and win, sometimes we question whether they're tough enough and they're this and they're that," Izzo said. "If we had played a little better down the stretch, it would have been a 20-point win on the road. But I'll take a 13-point win and go home."

The Badgers will try to end a long drought at Michigan State's Breslin Center. They have lost 10 straight in that arena, with the last victory coming in 2004.

Wisconsin (10-11, 3-5) is coming off one of its worst outings this season. It never led in an 85-67 road loss to Iowa on Tuesday. The Hawkeyes shot 51.7 percent from the field while holding the Badgers to 40.0 percent.

"We allowed too much at the rim and made life too easy early for them. We were never able to establish our footing defensively," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media outlets. "This group has not taken those steps where we need to take them consistently. We are not built offensively to make it a shootout."

Wisconsin is finishing a rough stretch of its schedule. The trip to East Lansing will be its fifth road game over a six-game stretch. It hasn't won any of those away games.

Junior forward Ethan Happ leads the Badgers, averaging 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He is frustrated that the team couldn't build off a 75-50 home win over Illinois prior to the Iowa trip.

"Lack of consistency," he told the Journal Sentinel. "It stems (from) practice even, and that is including myself. There needs to be an approach every single possession, not just three possessions here and all of a sudden they go on a run."