INDIANAPOLIS — Despite nearly blowing a 20-point lead against Maryland, Michigan State punched their ticket to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament Friday evening.
The Spartans will take on No. 2 seed Wisconsin Friday at 6:30 p.m.
MSU narrowly defeated Maryland 76-72 despite turning over the ball more than 11 times in the second half. Turnovers are the Spartans' Achilles' heel, Michigan State leads the league with an average of 13.6 turnovers per games.
During its regular-season series against the Badgers, the Spartans took home a win in January and then lost to them at home in February.
Michigan State holds the record for most Big Ten Tournament wins with a total of six since the tournament first debuted in 1998. Since the tournament's inception, Michigan State has only missed the quarterfinals once when they got knocked out in the second round last year.
Wisconsin is no slouch in the Big Ten Tournament either with three championships and only missing the quarterfinals once as well.
MSU and Wisconsin each have seven appearances in the tournament finals, runners-up to only Ohio State with nine appearances.
Both teams have already clinched an NCAA Tournament birth, but going further in the tournament could improve their seeding.
In the other quarterfinal game, No. 11 Penn State takes on No. 3 Purdue after the conclusion of Game 9.
The winners will face off Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
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