Late in the first half of Tuesday night’s 64-53 victory over Michigan State, UW sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson found the jump shot that has deserted him for the better part of the year.

After missing several shots earlier in the half, Wilkinson finally found what he was looking for, burying a three with 3:56 to go before halftime. All of a sudden, at least for the rest of the half, he could do no wrong on the offensive end, drilling another three on Wisconsin’s next possession. He later made two free throws and punctuated the Badgers’ first-half performance with an offensive put-back.

By the time Wilkinson finished his spurt, giving him 12 first-half points, UW had turned a 20-17 deficit into a 31-27 halftime lead. The Spartans never led again and managed to tie the game just once, at 48-48 in the second half.

“After he missed a couple there, he came over in a timeout and I said, ‘Mike, they aren’t going to make the basket any bigger. It’s going to be the same size, and it’s not getting any smaller, so you’re OK,'” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “I just tried to lighten the mood a little bit. It seemed he kind of smiled at me, and he comes down and hits his next two threes.”

Ryan expressed how critical it is for Wilkinson to knock down his open shots when the defense plays off of him. When the 6-foot-8 Wilkinson can do so, it forces bigger defenders to come out to the perimeter instead of clogging the lane. It also proves nearly impossible to defend against, since most of the opponents’ perimeter defenders are forced to lock down on the outside shooting of Kirk Penney, Devin Harris and Freddie Owens.

“We were expecting [Wilkinson’s outside shot]. We just had to pick our poison a little bit,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “We had to cheat a little bit to the inside, and we gave him a couple (shots) and he hit them.”

However, up to this point in the season, Wilkinson hasn’t been hitting as many of those shots as he would like. After a freshman season in which he made an impressive 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts, Wilkinson was shooting just 19.4 percent from beyond the arc before Tuesday’s game.

“We just have to change the games to the practices. He shoots well in practice,” Ryan said at last Monday’s press conference. “But he knows that we have confidence in him and that his teammates have confidence in him.”

Apparently, despite his shooting woes, Wilkinson has plenty of confidence in himself. Much like it was inevitable that a snowstorm was to hit Madison at least once this winter, Wilkinson knew some of his shots were bound to hit the bottom of the net at some point.

“I’ve never been one to be afraid to shoot the ball,” he said. “Anyone that’s ever played with me will tell you that. My shot feels fine, and shots started going down (tonight). Every shot I took I felt was going in. They all looked good, they all felt good, I never had any doubt that they weren’t going to [go in].”

Wilkinson finished the game with 14 points on 5-12 shooting. Whether his shots continue to go down remains to be seen. But, perhaps even more importantly, he brought a solid all-around game against the Spartans, something he has been incredibly consistent at doing for the Badgers.

In addition to his scoring, Wilkinson pulled down nine rebounds to help Wisconsin keep pace under the boards with Michigan State, who came into the game leading the Big Ten in rebounding margin. Coming off the bench with three fouls in the second half, he helped put the clamps on a Michigan State run that had tied the game at 48. With 3:46 to play, he grabbed a steal while sprawling onto the floor, a play indicative of his constant hustle.

Finally, he helped put Michigan State senior forwards Aloysius Anagonye and Adam Ballinger into foul trouble on the offensive end, while also assisting on the defensive end to hold them to 13 points combined.

“He was active on everything,” Ryan said. “Good feet, beating guys to spots. He was bound and determined not to give up anything easy.”

It’s this type of tenacity that keeps Wilkinson on the floor for Wisconsin. But it’s his jump shot that gives Wisconsin an extra dimension.