Michigan State University
Wisconsin
Spartans Defeated By Wisconsin
2/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 11, 2003
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Two teams with Big Ten title hopes met understanding only one would have a realistic chance of winning a league championship after 40 minutes.
Wisconsin (17-5, 5-3 Big Ten) pulled within a half-game of first place in the Big Ten Conference with a 64-53 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night, ending the Spartans' three-game winning streak.
Michigan State dropped to 13-9 (5-5 conference), enduring a severe blow to its chances for the Big Ten regular season championship.
Kirk Penney, Devin Harris and Mike Wilkinson led the Badgers with 14 points apiece, pulling within striking distance of first-place Purdue and Michigan with six games remaining in the regular season.
The Badgers shot just 37 percent from the floor against Michigan State's 52.4 percent but turned the ball over five times and didn't allow the Spartans many easy shots.
Wisconsin was concerned about defending Michigan State's lethal transition game, but didn't allow a single fast break point.
"Any time you can force a team like them into taking some of the shots they ended up taking, and get them to turn it over 15 times, I think you have to be happy with most of the execution," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said.
Wisconsin maintained its perfect home Big Ten record in Ryan's era, winning its 13th consecutive Big Ten home game and winning 22 of their last 23 home conference battles.
An early 6 p.m. CST start and a nasty snowstorm that swept in just before rush hour left the Kohl Center less than half-full when the nationally televised game tipped off.
Patches of empty seats remained until midway through the second half, but the crowd managed to make their voices count with near deafening backing for the home-court Badgers.
Freshman Erazem Lorbek led the Spartans in a dominant second-half performance, getting all his game-high 19 points in the second half after playing just nine minutes and attempting one shot before the break.
With 6-foot-11 center Paul Davis and 6-8, 260-pound forward Aloysius Anagonye sidelined early in the second half with three fouls each, Lorbek picked up the slack for the Spartans inside.
He rattled off eight consecutive points in less than two minutes, pulling Michigan State within four points, 41-37, with 12:28 remaining in the game.
Four minutes later, Lorbek converted a three-point play inside on a pinpoint bounce pass from Kelvin Torbert to pull the Spartans to a 46-44 deficit.
"We did a pretty good job of hitting our slip-men," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. Lorbek "was open and Torbert and (Chris) Hill both gave him some good passes in there and he got lay-ups."
Torbert hit a shot to tie the game, 48-48 with 5:25 remaining, but Wisconsin used four consecutive points by Penney and a clutch 3-pointer by Alando Tucker to spark a 16-5 run to close out the victory.
Tucker put an exclamation point on the win at the buzzer, slamming home an alley-oop pass by Harris to send the crowd into a frenzy and leaving Izzo steaming mad.
"I would never allow my team to do that, and I'm not going to talk about it," he said.
Ryan said he understood the coach's anger and was upset at how his players rubbed in the score. He said he voiced his displeasure to Harris and Tucker and would handle the issue internally.
"I walk out of there saying that's a 19-year old throwing to an 18-year old in a situation where Michigan State is the marked team," Ryan said. "It's not something I've ever coached. It's two young men that finished with an exclamation point. They were pretty excited we were able to beat a team like Michigan State here."
Wisconsin struggled to build a substantial early lead because of poor shooting, despite turning over the ball only twice in the first half. The Badgers hit just five of their first 21 field goals and finished the half with 31.3 percent shooting.
The lead changed hands seven times, but the Badgers pulled to a 31-27 advantage at the break behind the hot hand of Mike Wilkinson.
After missing six of his first seven attempts, Wilkinson hit three of his next four shots and made two free throws for 12 points in the first half.
The Spartans were hurt by two quick fouls to Anagonye, who sat the final 8:30 of the half. In the five minutes he was on the floor, Michigan State outscored Wisconsin 8-2.
