Sunday, April 02, 2000
Michigan State 53, Wisconsin 41
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — There will be one more game in Mateen Cleaves' remarkable career at Michigan State, and there will be two wonderful things about that game. It will be played with the NCAA championship at stake, and it will not be against Wisconsin.
A two-time All-American and four-year starter, Cleaves has seen enough of the Badgers. Who hasn't? “Last time we played, I was hugging all their guys, and I was happy,” Cleaves said. “I didn't think I'd be playing them again. They play hard. I'm glad I don't have to play them again, ever.”
The game Saturday that delivered the Spartans into their first NCAA title game since 1979 looked like a relic from 1939. With a final score of Michigan State 53, Wisconsin 41, it was the least potent Final Four game of the shot-clock era.
The Badgers' point total was the lowest since Kentucky was held to 40 by Georgetown in 1984. Michigan State wound up with more rebounds than Wisconsin did points.
Before a crowd of 43,116 at the RCA Dome, the Spartans (31-7) beat the Badgers (22-14) for the fourth time, tossing aside the axiom that suggests multiple victories over a quality opponent are somehow impossible to achieve.
“Every time we play Wisconsin, it's an ugly game,” said Michigan State guard Charlie Bell, “but as long as we come out with a victory, that's OK.”
About the only pure beauty in this game came from the hand of Spartans guard Morris Peterson, who scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to break his
team free from a 19-17 debacle at halftime.
Peterson played just two days after the funeral of his grandmother, and after making a 3-pointer with 3:48 remaining to give the Spartans a 16-point lead, he looked into the stands at his family and pointed to the sky.
“It was just to let her know that she's watching, and I feel her presence,” Peterson said.
There were elements of this game that were fundamentally beautiful. The defense Bell played against guard Jon Bryant, who averaged 16 points in the four tournament wins that brought Wisconsin here, was something to see. Bryant did not score until he squeezed in a layup with 5:40 left. The only Badgers player who reached double figures was guard Roy Boone, who had 18.
Bell trailed Bryant defensively to identify and avoid screens, and he stayed alert when Bryant gave up the ball, which generally indicated a pick was coming.
“He was a big key to Wisconsin getting here,” Bell said. “I think I did a great job of not letting him get open looks.”
Peterson has played this NCAA Tournament as though the first half of each game were some kind of pace lap. In the Midwest Regional at Auburn Hills, Mich., he scored 29 of his 39 points following halftime.
In this one, he scored twice as many points in the first six minutes following the break as in the 20 minutes before. He struggled to get four by halftime, making just 1-of-5 from the field. Peterson emerged from the locker room, though, with a near-frantic determination to get the ball into the lane and then up to the goal.
With open jump shots on the wings nearly extinct, he dashed to the middle for three baskets and then a foul that gave him two free throws. With those two points at the 14:01 mark, MSU had its first double-figure lead at 30-19.
“We weren't playing as aggressive as we should have,” Peterson said. “We started playing with a sense of urgency. We started to realize it was our last 20 minutes if we didn't pick it up.”
The Spartans did not make a 3-point shot until the 8:40 mark, when the ball was knocked from Bell's hands with the shot clock lapsing and Peterson scrambled to pick it up and rose for a long jumper from the top of the key. That made it 37-22, the largest lead to that point.
Michigan State certainly did not enter this game figuring it would be able to operate its offense cleanly and score with ease. The Spartans played this team three times before. They knew better.
They also knew Wisconsin has days when it's nearly capa ble of pitching a shutout at both ends, and that became the focus.
With the officials calling a loose game, the Badgers' physicality was an asset. It wasn't until Mark Vershaw slammed into Cleaves at the foul line with 6 minutes left that one of the teams entered the bonus.
Cleaves missed that free throw, part of a scoreless streak for Michigan State that lasted 6:35. Wisconsin got a short jumper from Vershaw and a 3-pointer by guard Kirk Penney in that period. In this game, that seemed like a offensive explosion, and it cut the MSU lead to 17-13.
The Spartans broke their drought with 3:34 left, when they fed Peterson along the baseline and he was fouled by Bryant. Peterson made two free throws, his first points since scoring the Spartans' opening basket nearly 15 minutes earlier. They did not score again before halftime. They scored plenty afterward.
“Last year, when we scored 32 points it was against Southwest Missouri State in the first round,” Vershaw said. “This year the 41 points we scored were against the No.1 team in the country in the Final Four, so I think people can come a little happier.”
Especially the people from Michigan State.
Associated Press Final Four Coverage: Men's •
Women's
Florida vs. Mich St.: Opposites attract
Florida 71, North Carolina 59
A happy end to Badger boredom
WISCONSIN (41)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Kowske 20 1-2 0-2 0-0 0 4 2
Kelley 30 1-2 0-0 0-7 3 3 2
Vershaw 31 2-11 1-1 1-2 3 3 5
Bryant 27 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 3 2
Boone 25 6-9 5-6 1-3 0 2 18
Wills 19 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 2 2
Duany 11 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Linton 10 0-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Davis 10 1-1 1-2 0-2 1 2 4
Penney 14 2-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 6
Faust 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Swartz 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 15-43 7-11 2-19 8 19 41
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.349, FT-.636. 3-Point Goals:
4-13, .308 (Kelley 0-1, Vershaw 0-1, Bryant 0-3,
Boone 1-1, Wills 0-1, Duany 0-1, Linton 0-1,
Davis 1-1, Penney 2-3). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked
shots: 4 (Kowske 4). Turnovers: 11 (Boone 5,
Bryant 2, Linton 2, Duany, Vershaw). Steals: 2
(Kelley 2).
MICHIGAN ST (53)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Hutson 32 3-7 4-5 6-10 0 2 10
Peterson 33 7-15 4-4 3-7 0 3 20
Granger 32 0-3 1-2 1-7 1 4 1
Cleaves 36 1-7 9-11 0-4 1 3 11
Bell 30 2-9 0-0 2-8 2 2 4
Richardson 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Anagonye 12 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 2 2
Chappell 9 2-4 1-1 0-0 0 1 5
Ballinger 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Thomas 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 16-46 19-23 13-39 4 18 53
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.348, FT-.826. 3-Point Goals:
2-14, .143 (Peterson 2-8, Granger 0-1, Bell 0-3,
Chappell 0-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3
(Chappell 2, Ballinger). Turnovers: 14 (Cleaves
4, Granger 3, Hutson 3, Bell 2, Anagonye,
Peterson). Steals: 3 (Cleaves 2, Peterson).
__________________________________
Wisconsin 17 24 - 41
Michigan St 19 34 - 53
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 43,116. Officials: Ken
Clougherty, Andre Patillo, Tim Higgins.
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