Quick Six: No. 7 Wisconsin set for battle at No. 1 Michigan State

Friday, November 21

East Lansing, MI

7:30 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

#1 Michigan State

Quinn Finley skates against Michigan State

Photo by: Tom Lynn

Quick Six: No. 7 Wisconsin set for battle at No. 1 Michigan State

November 19, 2025 | Men's Hockey

Badgers travel to East Lansing for penultimate fall semester series

By: Kali Mick

MADISON, Wis. – For its second-to-last series of the fall semester, the No. 7 Wisconsin men's hockey team travels to East Lansing, Michigan, for games at No. 1 Michigan State on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, at Munn Ice Arena.

Friday's game starts at 7:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday's begins at 6 p.m. CT. Both games stream on B1G+.

Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:

Rosters: Badgers || Spartans

1 - MORRISSEY THE HERO: Sophomore forward Gavin Morrissey was the hero in Wisconsin's 6-5 overtime win versus Ohio State on Saturday, scoring the game-winning goal 1:39 into extra time on the power play.

"Where momma hides the cookies" for the overtime win!!!

🚨 @gavmorrissey7 pic.twitter.com/hXqa9IwSjV
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 16, 2025

Morrissey is currently on a team-leading nine-game point streak, tallying three goals and 10 points over the stretch. His three goals have come in his last four games after a 22-game goal-scoring drought that ended on Nov. 7 at Michigan.

The forward leads the team with 13 points, and his 10 assists are tied for first with Ben Dexheimer.

"You can see he's working on a shot-first mentality," said Head Coach Mike Hastings on Morrissey. "He didn't dust that one off – he got it, got his head up, found a spot and shot it before the goaltender was able to get set. He looks at his whole game, and the offensive side, that piece of it, is coming."

Morrissey has also been excellent in the faceoff circle this season, with his 159 wins ranking third in the country and his 63.9 percent success rate leading the Big Ten among skaters who have taken over 20 faceoffs.

2 - HENSLER'S HEATING UP: Sophomore defenseman Logan Hensler has found his offensive footing this year as he tallied his third goal of the season on Saturday night, already surpassing his total of two goals from last year.

The defenseman also had two assists on Saturday to earn his first-career three-point night and second-career multi-point game.

CASUAL THREE-POINT NIGHT FOR HENSLER SO FAR 🤷‍♂️

Third goal of the year for the sophomore (@LoganHensler) pic.twitter.com/lIxVjW2lX5
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 16, 2025

His seven points rank second among defensemen on the roster, and his three goals lead Badger blueliners.

"He has all the natural ability in the world, and he knows that," said senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer about Hensler. "This year, he's been focusing on simplifying a little bit, and that's paid off. He's had an absolutely awesome start to the year. I think he's only going to keep progressing."

3 - AT OUR BEST AGAINST THE BEST: The Badgers own an impressive history when taking on the nation's No. 1 team over the years like it does this weekend at No. 1 Michigan State. The Badgers sit 21-26-3 in 50 contests against the top-ranked team since the USCHO.com Poll began in 1997.

When the Badgers rank in the top 20, they are 15-11-2 against No. 1 teams. When the Badgers rank in the top 10, they are 9-2-2 against No. 1 teams, including 8-0-2 in the last 10 such situations.

UW's last game against the No. 1 team in the country when ranked in the top 10 came on March 20, 2010, against No. 1 Denver in St. Paul, Minnesota. The No. 3 Badgers won that contest, 6-3.

UW's last four games against ranked opponents all came against Michigan State last season. The Badgers, unranked at the time, are 1-3-0 against the Spartans over that stretch. All three losses were one-goal games, including two in overtime.

The most recent contest between the two schools took place at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Jan. 4, a 4-3 overtime defeat that MSU won with 1.4 seconds left in the extra frame.

4 - LAST TIME OUT: UW played its final home series of the semester last weekend, posting a split against Ohio State, dropping game one, 5-1, before winning game two, 6-5, in overtime.

On Friday night, Wisconsin suffered a 5-1 setback to the Buckeyes. Ohio State opened the scoring 13:33 into the first period on the power play. In the second period, Wisconsin had three power-play chances and OSU had one, but neither team could convert on any scoring opportunities as the game remained 1-0, heading into the third frame. Ohio State broke the silence 3:23 into the third period to extend its lead, but senior forward Simon Tassy responded for the Badgers 11:34 into the final frame to make it a one-goal game. The Buckeyes then scored three more times, once at 12:59, again at 13:55 and once more at 16:33 into an empty net, to earn the win.

Tassy (@SimonTassy) with his fifth of the season 🚨

🍎: Gavin Morrissey pic.twitter.com/niRPANHMtT
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 15, 2025

In game two, a back-and-forth affair finished with a Gavin Morrissey goal, 1:39 into overtime, to give the Badgers the win. Ohio State led 2-0 just past the midpoint of the first period, but Wisconsin battled back, with Oliver Tulk scoring at 11:12 and Grady Deering tying it up at 15:14. UW added two more goals in the second frame, from Logan Hensler on an end-to-end run at 1:45 and Bruno Idžan netting his first NCAA goal at 7:58, to take a 4-2 lead into the third. Ohio State closed in on Wisconsin's lead 2:48 into the third, before Vasily Zelenov made it 5-3, at 7:59. The Buckeyes continued to fight, adding goals at 10:20 and 12:33 into the third to take the game to overtime tied at five. OSU took a penalty with 13 seconds left in the third, and Morrissey capitalized on the man advantage, 1:39 into overtime, to give UW the victory.

High drama at the Kohl Center on Saturday night

Relive it pic.twitter.com/UHm4MOFBK8
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 18, 2025

5 - SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: The Spartans have a 9-1-0 record through 10 games, including going 4-0-0 in Big Ten play to share first place in the league with Wisconsin and Michigan, who all have 11 points. MSU enters the series after sweeping Notre Dame on the road, winning game one, 4-1, and game two, 3-1.

Freshman forward Porter Martone leads the team with seven goals and 14 points in 10 games played. Junior goaltender Trey Augustine has eight wins in nine starts, accumulating a .948 save percentage and a 1.32 goals-against average.

"We've got a pretty good understanding of what Michigan State brings," Coach Hastings said. "This is not their first time being number one in the country. They're good. There's a respect factor there, but also, I think our group believes in themselves and understands that if you're going to beat a team like that, you're going to have to go win a hockey game – they're not going to give it to you."

6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 6 p.m. CT on Saturday. Both games stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA on Friday and 1070 The Game on Saturday. It's also available on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.