Michigan State stays in Big Ten title hunt after beating Wisconsin 58-43 to stop losing streak

Michigan State and Wisconsin basketball players jump for a rebound after a Keith Appling 3-point miss during their game at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Thursday, March 7.

EAST LANSING -- Michigan State could now use a little help.

Indiana will have to lose, and Michigan State will have to win their final regular-season games for the Spartans to share the Big Ten title.

What became certain after easily defeating Wisconsin 58-43 on Thursday to end a three-game losing streak was that Keith Appling was back, scoring a game-high 19 points to lead the Spartans (23-7) to victory.

Playing its fourth straight game against a ranked team, Michigan State finally got one, with Appling going 7-for-13 from the field and adding five rebounds and three assists.

Michigan State went on a 16-0 run in the second half and led by as many as 23 points, capitalizing on Wisconsin going cold after the Badgers had scored first in the second half.

Gary Harris scored 11 points, and Adreian Payne added nine points and 11 rebounds.

HIGHLIGHTS

— Appling was back to being the Appling of old. He was aggressive on offense, taking open jump shots when they presented themselves while also going to the basket. It seemed to take a weight off his shoulders, as the smile that had emerged at the start of the season returned.

— Travis Trice appeared as confident as he had been all season, scoring five points, grabbing five rebounds, and dishing out four assists. He was active on the court, went to the basket and set up his teammates. It helped that his play allowed Appling to get some rest and play only 29 minutes.

— Adreian Payne was 4-for-12 from the field while getting a stiff challenge from Ryan Evans, but he was still very active. On one play, he missed on a dunk attempt and fell  his back while still crawling up to grab the ball and call a timeout.

LOWLIGHTS

— Gary Harris missed his first eight field goal attempts and later air-balled a 3-point attempt. He wasn't himself, but still managed to finish with the 11 points and 5-for-14 from the field.

— Branden Dawson was more energetic than he had been in recent games. Now it's a matter of getting that shot to go down for him. He scored two points on 1-for-6 shooting while grabbing six rebounds.

— Derrick Nix was 2-for-10 from the field, scoring five points. He struggled going up against Jared Berggren, missing shots from short distance.

ISSUE OF THE GAME: REVISITED

The Spartans played so well that there

, and that's fine by Tom Izzo because he got his point guard back and playing a complete game.

POSTGAME QUESTION

What's been the key for Appling to getting back on track?

-- Download the MSU basketball on MLive app for iPhone and Android
-- Download the MSU football on MLive app for iPhone and Android
-- Follow Diamond Leung and Mike Griffith on Twitter

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