Allen scores 16 to lead No. 10 Michigan State to 54-47 win over No. 17 Wisconsin in slugfest

No. 10 Michigan State beats No. 17 Wisconsin

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Chris Allen scored 16 points and Draymond Green had 11, helping No. 10 Michigan State hold off No. 17 Wisconsin for a 54-47 victory Wednesday night.

The Spartans (12-3, 2-0 Big Ten) did not trail, but they could not put the pesky Badgers (12-3, 2-1) away in a closely contested defensive struggle.

Jon Leuer scored 18 of his 21 points after halftime to keep Wisconsin in the game.

Raymar Morgan’s three-point play put the Spartans up 46-41 with 4:14 to go. Kalin Lucas followed with a shot that put them ahead by eight with a couple minutes left, sealing Michigan State’s eighth straight Big Ten home-opening win.

Lucas scored 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting and teammate Durrell Summers missed all four of his shots and didn’t score.

The Spartans have won seven of their last eight games and Wisconsin had won six straight.

Allen was the only player on the court shooting 2 hours before tipoff and it paid off on a rough night offensively for some of his teammates.

He had nine points in the first half, leading all scorers, as Lucas went 1 of 8, Morgan missed his only attempt and Summers was 0 of 3.

The Spartans led 22-20 at halftime as both teams shots below 30 percent, reminding some of an ugly Final Four matchup they had.

Leuer was 1 of 7 in the first half, but bounced back with a strong second half that gave the Badgers a shot at coming back.

He didn’t have much help.

Trevon Hughes, who was averaging a team-high 16.5 points, finished with seven on 3-of-13 shooting. Jason Bohannon scored 10 for the Badgers, who made only one-third of their shots.

Michigan State didn’t shoot much better — 38 percent — but had only one turnover in the second half after giving up the ball nine times in a sloppy first half.

Michigan State, the defending Big Ten champions, and the Badgers have won eight of the last 12 conference titles.