The calendar has flipped to March and Michigan State is still red hot. The Spartans won their fifth straight game (last four against ranked opponents) with their 71-62 win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.

Jaden Akins led the Spartans with 19 points. He made four 3-pointers and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Jaxon Kohler added a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Jase Richardson also scored in double figures with 11 points to go along with five rebounds and six assists.

Michigan State only turned the ball over nine times in this game. The Spartans dominated the glass as they out rebounded Wisconsin 51-40. They grabbed 13 offensive boards as well.

The Spartans got their transition game going as they had 20 fast break points.

Michigan State's defense held Wisconsin to 16% shooting from 3-point range.

The win sets up an important final week of the regular season for Michigan State. It all starts on Thursday at Iowa and ends with the regular season finale at home against Michigan, which could decide which team wins the Big Ten regular season title.

Here is how Michigan State captured a win against Wisconsin on Sunday inside the Breslin Center:

The Spartans opened the game with a starting five of Jeremy Fears Jr., Akins, Richardson, Kohler and Szymon Zapala. Wisconsin was missing starting guard Max Klesmit for this game. Klesmit averages 9.7 points per game.

Michigan State struggled to shoot the ball early as they made only one of their first seven field goals – a 3-pointer by Richardson.

Wisconsin jumped out to an early 13-4 lead in the first five minutes. Steven Crowl had seven of the first 10 points for Wisconsin, but he didn’t score for the rest of the half.

The Spartans followed that up with a 15-4 run started by a Coen Carr alley-oop slam on a pass from Tre Holloman.

Akins also made three 3-pointers in that stretch to give the Spartans a 19-17 lead at the under-12 media timeout.

Akins was the first Spartan to reach double figures as he had 11 points just over eight minutes into the game on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Spartans and Badgers traded buckets for the next few minutes in a fast-paced fashion. Xavier Booker hit a 3-pointer and Frankie Fidler hit a jumper as they both got on the board. Michigan State held a 24-23 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.

A 4:29 scoring drought for Michigan State resulted in Wisconsin taking a narrow lead. The Spartans missed nine field goals in a row in that drought, but their defense kept them within striking distance of the Badgers.

Since going down 28-24, Michigan State went on an 8-2 run. Wisconsin had a 3:12 scoring drought of its own in that stretch. Akins hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Spartans a 32-30 lead late in the first half.

However, Wisconsin made the final two shots of the half to take a 34-32 lead into halftime.

Akins was the star performer of the first half for Michigan State. He had 14 points and was 4-for-8 from 3-point range. The rest of the team went 2-for-11 from beyond the arc. The Spartans did hold Wisconsin to just 13% from 3-point range in the first half.

The points in the paint battle was dominated by the Badgers in the opening 20 minutes. They had 18 while Michigan State only had six.

Michigan State did win the first half rebounding battle 26-21. The Spartans had seven offensive rebounds in the first half. Kohler had four of those and nine total rebounds.

Richardson and Carr only played five minutes each in the first half. They both picked up two personal fouls early in the game.

Richardson started the second half well for Michigan State. He hit a big 3-pointer to give Michigan State a three point lead as part of an 8-0 scoring run.

Richardson hit his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Spartans a 45-43 lead. He drew a foul as well, but couldn’t hit the free throw.

Fidler got going as well. He hit a reverse layup on the baseline.

Fidler followed that up with his first 3-pointer of the game and he sank another layup on a drive to the lane.

Michigan State continued to get easy buckets. Akins slammed home a transition dunk on a football pass from Richardson.

Then, Richardson set up Carson Cooper on a nice bounce pass for an easy slam. That gave the Spartans their largest lead of the game, 58-50.

Wisconsin got back in the game with a 7-0 run. Carr ended Michigan State’s scoring drought with a steal on the defensive end and transition dunk on the offensive end.

A pick and roll alley-oop from Holloman to Cooper gave the Spartans a 62-58 lead.

After the under-4 media timeout, Richardson was subbed back in for Michigan State. On the first possession out of the timeout, he drove the lane with the shot clock winding down and dished it to Kohler for a layup and a foul.

Michigan State’s run continued with a Cooper dunk and a transition Kohler layup. That all but sealed the win for the Spartans as they had a 70-60 lead with 47 seconds remaining.

Wisconsin went on a scoring drought for over three minutes late in the game, which helped Michigan State pull away.

The Spartans won by a final score of 71-62. They improved to 24-5 overall with a 15-3 Big Ten record.

Michigan State’s next game will be on Thursday night at Iowa at 8 p.m. on FS1.

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