College hoops Thursday: Michigan State stifles Wisconsin

Wisconsin hung around during the first half, trailing by only seven after the first 20 minutes. Michigan State then went on a 16-2 run to start the second half, and never let the Badgers back in the game.

The Spartans played tough defense against Wisconsin all night, holding the road team to a 29.4 field-goal percentage. The Spartans also did a good job forcing turnovers, collecting 16 steals during the game.

Colorado (20-9, 10-7 Pac-12) concludes its regular season schedule on Saturday against Oregon State, while Oregon (23-7, 12-5 Pac-12) tries to rebound at Utah.

• Are advanced stats good for fans?

• Are advanced stats good for fans?

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The first round of the Missouri Valley Tournament begins on Thursday night in St. Louis. Arch Madness, as it is commonly known, will hold its first two games March 7, with the remaining six teams scheduled to begin play on Friday.

SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean has Creighton as a nine-seed and Wichita State as a 10-seed in his latest bracket projections. Last season, both Creighton and Wichita State made the tournament, with Creighton winning its first-round game against Alabama.

With the first round of action in the Big South Tournament completed, the top seeds are ready to take to action in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The top two seeds in both the North and South division earned byes in the first round as the bottom eight teams had to battle it out to reach the quarters.

The upset of the day on Wednesday, was Longwood, which finished with a 4-12 record in conference, knocking off two-time defending Big South Tournament champions, UNC-Asheville. Longwood advances to take on VMI in the second round, who had a worse record than UNC-Asheville, but earned a bye as the two seed in the North Division.

The West Coast Conference tournament got under way on Wednesday, with Marymount defeating Portland to advance to Thursday’s second round. Now it will have to get through San Francisco to reach the quarterfinals. In the night’s other game, No. 6 seed San Diego faces seventh-seeded Pepperdine.

Both games will be televised by BYUtv (complete WCC bracket):

The 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament enters the quarterfinal round on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

No. 4 seed Tennessee State takes on No. 5 seed Morehead State in the first game of the night, followed by No. 3 Eastern Kentucky meeting No. 6 Southeast Missouri in the nightcap.