It was worth the hour-long wait in the cold and snow to get close to the court tonight at the Kohl Center.

The 16th-ranked Badgers snapped the fifth-ranked Michigan State Spartans’ nine-game conference win streak with a dominating 67-49 victory. An early free throw put MSU up 1-0, and marked the only time Sparty led Bucky throughout the contest.

Sophomore guard Jordan Taylor got the ball rolling on offense, scoring 10 of the first 13 points for the Badgers on the way to a 13-4 lead within the first five minutes of the game. From then on the Badgers never led by less than 6 points.

In the fifth game since losing star forward Jon Leuer to a wrist injury, several young Badgers once again stepped up the offensive production.

Taylor backed up his 13-point, five-assist performance at Purdue with 17 points, two assists, and two steals against the Spartans. With Trevon Hughes sitting down after committing his second personal foul just 3 minutes into the game, Taylor was at the helm of the offense for the majority of the first half.

The Badgers shot lights-out in the first half, going 6-of-10 (40 percent) from behind the arc, and 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) from the field. This explosive first half led to a halftime lead of 38-23.

In the second half, the Badgers came out a bit slow with Hughes back in the game. He had cooled off while sitting the bench in the first half, and struggled to find his shot.

Eventually, though, the offense clicked again and the Spartans were never able to overcome the deficit. A second-half injury to guard Kalin Lucas didn’t help the Spartan cause.

Jason Bohannon led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Taylor’s 17, Keaton Nankivil’s 11, and Rob Wilson’s 10.

Hughes came back in the second half to score five points, and Tim Jarmusz and Ryan Evans added three and two points, respectively. Only one Spartan (Durrell Summers with 11 points) reached double-digits.

Several things stood out from this victory.

First of all, the Badgers hung on to the ball while forcing Michigan State to commit turnovers. The Badgers, who commit the fewest turnovers in the nation — 9.4 per game — committed just five turnovers, while forcing Michigan State into 13.

Secondly, the Badgers finally started to get the ball inside, the best they have done in that respect since Leuer’s injury. The inside presence tonight came from Wilson, who played off driving teammates for easy looks underneath.

Nankivil and Evans also scored from the paint, adding dunks after offensive rebounds, something fans haven’t seen at Wisconsin in a few games.

A third factor the Badgers used to their advantage was the crowd. The Grateful Red showed up in full force Tuesday — as they did in big games against Duke and Purdue — and proceeded to shake the foundations of the Kohl Center.

Tuesday’s win over Michigan State proved that even without Leuer, the Badgers are still a threat in the Big Ten as well as the NCAA.

Michigan State is not the typical Big Ten team. The Spartan offense is much more fast-paced than most Big Ten teams often play. The biggest knock on the Badgers is that they can’t stick with the fast-paced style of play.

Tuesday night they showed they could.

Injuries and foul troubles left the Badgers playing an extremely young lineup for the majority of the first half. The experience these young players gained in the absence of Leuer and Hughes is imperative for postseason play.

The strides young players such as Taylor, Wilson, and Nankivil have taken these past few games are vital to the Badgers’ future success this season and beyond.

With the win against Michigan State, the Badgers move to 17-5 on the season and 7-3 in the conference. Wisconsin also is a perfect 13-0 at the Kohl Center on the year.

The Badgers also become only the second team in the NCAA this season to win three games against top 10 ranked teams, with Syracuse being the first.

Hopefully, the Badgers can stay hot when they travel to Michigan this Saturday to face the Wolverines.