The No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers (17-6, 8-4) head to East Lansing tonight to take on the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans (19-4, 10-2) at the Breslin Center.

If history is any indicator, the trip will be a positive one for the Badgers. Since head coach Bo Ryan took the helm at the beginning of the 2001 season, future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo and his squad have not defeated Ryan and the Badgers.

Included in that impressive 6-0 streak against the Spartans is Wisconsin’s dramatic, last-second victory in East Lansing in 2002, which snapped Michigan State’s streak of 53 consecutive wins at the Breslin Center.

Earlier this season, the Badgers continued their run against the Spartans with a 62-59 decision over Michigan State at the Kohl Center, in which Wisconsin scored the last 11 points of the contest.

This game, however, will pit two teams that have moved in different directions since their last meeting. The Badgers had their nation-long home winning streak of 38 snapped by No. 1 Illinois Jan. 25 and have gone 5-3 since their triumph over Tom Izzo’s bunch.

The Spartans, by comparison, have fared better than their Wisconsin counterpart. Since losing to the Badgers, Michigan State has rattled off a 9-1 record with their only loss coming at the hands of undefeated Illinois 81-68 Feb. 1.

Ryan, though, is not convinced the two teams have changed since their first meeting.

“Well, that’s all relative, and [with] what the other teams are doing too, so I can’t … know,” Ryan said. “And you wouldn’t be [able to tell] just because of one game.”

Whether or not the Spartans are a different team since they last met Wisconsin, Ryan and the Badgers will need to be ready to face an explosive team.

Leading Michigan State in scoring, junior guard Maurice Ager is a dangerous player. After averaging only 8.5 points as a sophomore, Ager has matured into one of the Spartan’s top scoring options. Despite scoring only two points against the Badgers in their previous meeting, Ager is capable of putting up big numbers. His season high is 22 points, which he has posted three times this season. At 6-foot-5, Ager will be able to shoot over any of the Wisconsin guards who may be defending him.

While Ager may be the Spartans’ leading scorer, many analysts do not consider him the team’s most dangerous weapon. That honor falls on the shoulders of junior center Paul Davis.

A Wooden Award Preseason All-American, Davis’s numbers have slipped a bit this season (15.8 last season to 12.0 this season), but he is nonetheless a player capable of dominating down low. Wisconsin has seen this first hand, as Davis has dropped 25 points and 20 points in consecutive games against the Badgers.

At 6-foot-11, Davis creates matchup problems for opponents because of his size and touch. He is adept underneath the basket, averaging just over seven rebounds a game, and he can hit the 15-footer with ease; he is shooting 56 percent on the year. Accordingly, Wisconsin’s defense will be charged with containing Davis both inside and out.

Davis and Ager alone would give teams problems, but the Spartans’ attack does not end there. Senior guards Alan Anderson and Kelvin Torbert are excellent penetrators and shooters; both players are shooting over 50 percent from the field this year.

Every offense relies on a capable point guard, and Michigan State is no different. Senior Chris Hill runs Tom Izzo’s offense. Though he was largely invisible against Wisconsin (8 points on 2-for-9 shooting), Hill has awoken of late. Over the past four games, Hill is shooting over 56 percent from the field and averaging more than 11 points per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio is almost 3:1 over that span.

Ryan and the Badgers are aware of the Michigan State floor general’s skills, but that does not mean they are going to change the game plan just for Hill.

“You know, he’s a very good player and he’s already proven that. He’s got the statistics to prove that,” Ryan said. “So there isn’t any change in how we approach him. He’s still a player.”

As the Badgers head into East Lansing that “player” and his streaking Spartans will look to break Ryan’s streak over Izzo and extend the Michigan State win streak to six.