SportsLine.com Report
April 1, 2000

National semifinal: MSU ends Badgers' run

INDIANAPOLIS -- When it came down to it, there were just too many games against Michigan State.

The Wisconsin Badgers won each and every one of their final 15 games of the season -- except for the four the played against the Michigan State Spartans.

And the last of those games turned out to be the last game of the season for Wisconsin, which came up short against MSU in the national semifinals in the RCA Dome, 53-41.

Michigan State (31-7) overcame Wisconsin's in-your-face defense and slowdown offense, beating the Badgers at their own game.

"We finally broke them down a little bit," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "They're a tough team."

The Badgers held MSU without a field goal for the final 11:42 of the first half, and Wisconsin trailed only 19-17 at the half. When UW won the 1941 national championship, it led Washington State at halftime, 21-17.

Morris Peterson scored 10 points during a 13-2 spurt that pushed the lead to 32-19.

The Badgers shot only 35 percent (15-of-43) and had just one player in double figures (Roy Boone, 18 points). Most of those came in the final minutes when the outcome was already decided. Last week, Bennett said his team had not figured out how to score against Michigan State. The Badgers still haven't, and were held to the lowest point total of any Final Four team since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.

Jon Bryant, the MVP of the West Regional after averaging 16.8 points and shooting 50 percent from the floor, was held to two points on 1-of-5 shooting by the Spartans, who made it difficult for him to even get off a shot -- much less make it.

"We just didn't get it done," Bennett said. "They're better than us, and we knew that."

Still, it was a remarkable run for the Badgers, the sixth-place team in the Big Ten and then the eighth seed in the West Region. They knocked out top-seeded Arizona in the second round of the West Regional, then made it to Indy by defeating Purdue in another All-Big Ten matchup.

Michigan State dominated the boards, outrebounding Wisconsin 42-20 in a virtual replay of their first meeting this season. That choked off one of the Badgers' prime objectives for creating offensive chances.

Wisconsin power forward Andy Kowske encountered early foul trouble and was never much of a factor in his 20 minutes of action.

Bennett: Basketball world is shrinking

Coach Dick Bennett sees more teams like Wisconsin appearing in future Final Fours.

"I think there's less difference between the haves and the have-nots than ever before, because of all the exposure," Bennett said. "Kids from all places get to play, go to camps, get in the gyms in the summer and get good coaching. So I really think that it's become a smaller basketball world, which is great for everyone."

How They Got There

By now, everybody knows the story of the Badgers. The sixth team out of the Big Ten that had to rally to even get a spot in the NCAA Tournament and then were seeded aside Fresno State. The Badgers won that battle of contrasts and moved on to upset top-seeded Arizona on the second round. They then slowed Louisiana State to a crawl and beat Purdue at its own game to make it, miraculously, into the Final Four for the first time since 1941.

The trip to the NCAA Tournament was the Badgers' third in four years.

Wisconsin's record was among the worst in the field, but the Badgers earned it by playing one of the nation's five strongest schedules and going 4-1 at the end of the regular season.

The Badgers defeated four ranked teams along the way: Texas, Temple (without Pepe Sanchez), Illinois and Indiana. All of those wins came at home as the Badgers went just 4-9 on the road.

Starting Lineup

• PG Mike Kelley (6-3, 185, Jr.), 5.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.1 apg
  A typical Kelley game calls for him to score no points ... but he'll grab four rebounds, make three steals, hand out five assists and set plenty of screens on big men to set his own guys free. He's the school's all-time steals leader and among the national leaders on floor burns and intensity. His playmaking (five assists per game) and defense (4.25 steals) are one of the biggest reasons Wisconsin is moving into the Final Four.
• SG Jon Bryant (6-2, 185, Sr.), 8.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.3 apg
  The former walk-on who transferred from St. Cloud State has become the designated sniper for the Badgers, averaging 16.7 points in the NCAA Tournament, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 3-point range. His 67 points rank fourth among the leading scorers in the tournament.
• SF Maurice Linton (6-8, 215, Jr.), 4.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 apg
  He's got the skills to operate in a wide-open attack, but he has learned to pick his spots within Wisconsin's disciplined offense. Came up with 14 points against Arizona but settled in and combined for 13 points in the past two games. He's a better athlete than is needed in the Badgers' sets and sometimes that leaves him lost in Bennett's vanilla system.
• PF Mark Vershaw (6-9, 235, Jr.), 12.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.3 apg
  Not only is he the Big Ten's only married player, he's the Badgers' lone double-digit scorer as well as their leading assist man. His passing skills are well above average. Teams can't double him because he'll find the open guy for a layup. Not a big scorer, but will occasionally come up with a big night, like his 15-point effort against Arizona.
• PF Andy Kowske (6-8, 230, Jr.), 9.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.3 apg
  This is a guy who willingly gives up his body and fouls for the team. He did pop for 20 points in one game, but that's not what he needs to provide in order for Wisconsin to win. His job is to suffocate opposing big men, clear the glass and set rock-ribbed screens. He's nasty -- anybody he draws as a defensive assignment will walk to class sore in the morning. He's scored in double figures three of four NCAA Tournament games.

Keys to Success

Wisconsin's No. 1 rule is to force its opponent to pay -- either in bruises or time wasted -- on each possession. The Badgers are fourth in the nation in scoring defense (55.8 points) and they simply don't allow easy shots. Nobody has topped 60 against them in the tourney.

The Badgers' second key is to find a shooter who's hot. Duany Duany has been off, so fellow senior Jon Bryant has provided a spark. They can also ask freshman Kirk Penney, a New Zealander, to bury 3-pointers, though he has played minimally in the tournament.

The Badgers' third key is to find a matchup 6-9 junior forward Mark Vershaw can exploit. He's too quick for some big men and too strong for others. He's best, though, when he can operate away from the basket and feed cutters for easy baskets.

The Coach

When Wisconsin was in the midst of its 1-4 start in the Big Ten, Badger fans tore into Dick Bennett and suggested his style and his ways were as antiquated as Revolutionary War muskets.

They forget that this was the same guy who directed the Badgers to three postseason appearances in his first four years. Now he's the first guy to direct the Badgers to four postseason appearances, period.

Yes, Wisconsin scores on the fast break about once a week. But it shouldn't matter. Bennett can X and O with the best of them -- and he always seems to work the officials to his advantage. The guy is a winner.

The Bench

Because Bennett tried so many lineups this year, he finds himself in the happy position of having several experienced players to whom he can turn.

Sophomore Charlie Wills (6-8, 230) is the only choice when Bennett needs someone to bang bodies inside, but there are four Badgers to choose from in the backcourt. Former starter Duany Duany, junior-college transfer Roy Boone and freshman Kirk Penney are scorers while sophomore Travon Davis is a reliable backup point guard.

Offense

The Badgers seem to be in perpetual motion since the only way they get open shots is by out-scheming and outworking the other team.

Their system features constant screening, usually to get Duany open on the perimeter or Vershaw anywhere on the floor. They average just 60 points per game and shoot just 43 percent from the floor. But when they've shot 45 percent or better under Bennett, they've won 89 percent of their games.

Defense

The Badgers led the Big Ten in scoring defense for the fourth year in a row -- and they've hit their stride at the end. Only two of the past 12 opponents has reached 60 points, that being Purdue in the Big Ten quarterfinals and Purdue in the regional final.