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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Jason Richardson's four 3-pointers,
spectacular alley-oop dunk and 25 points would have meant nothing
if Charlie Bell had not made two key plays Saturday night.
|  | | Jason Richardson came up big for the Spartans late in the second half and in overtime. |
Bell came through at both ends of the court as No. 3 Michigan
State rallied from a five-point deficit in the final minute of
regulation and beat No. 17 Wisconsin 69-59 in overtime in a rematch
from last season's Final Four.
"I was never worried that we were going to lose," Bell said
after the defending national champion Spartans (14-1, 3-1 Big Ten)
extended the country's longest home winning streak to 39 games.
Wisconsin (10-4, 1-3) went on a 17-2 run late in the second half
to take a 55-52 lead with 4:01 left, but the Badgers lost their
third straight game.
After Wisconsin's Mike Kelley missed the front end of a
one-and-one at the line, Bell, who had missed three consecutive
3-pointers, made a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 57
with 28.5 seconds left.
Bell forced Wisconsin's Mark Vershaw into a contested 10-foot
shot with about two seconds left, and the game went to overtime,
where Michigan State outscored Wisconsin 12-2.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo didn't hesitate to continue
calling on Bell to shoot 3-pointers at the end of regulation, and
Izzo didn't complain when Bell tossed Richardson an alley-oop pass
with a three-point lead and less than a minute left in OT.
Izzo believes Bell is one of the most underrated players in the
country. Only Bell and Monmouth's Rahsaan Johnson are averaging 15
points, five rebounds and five assists.
"I just had faith in him -- he's a winner," Izzo said. "During
each timeout, I kept telling him, 'You're going to get this one.
You're going to get this one.' Then, finally he hit one. Then the
pass he threw was incredible because the play wasn't really that
open."
Bell, Andre Hutson and Zach Randolph each scored 10 points for
Michigan State, which has won seven consecutive games against
Wisconsin.
Roy Boone led the Badgers with 22 points, and Vershaw added 18.
Kelley held his head low as he walked to Wisconsin's bus,
knowing he might have sealed the victory by making two foul shots
with 48.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"I let my teammates down," Kelley said. "That's the bottom
line."
The first half didn't look at all like the four gritty,
low-scoring games the two teams played last season, all of which
were won by Michigan State -- including a 53-41 victory in the NCAA
semifinals.
Shots were made, plays were executed and a player could run
without fear of a flying elbow.
The Badgers made six of their first seven shots and led 17-9 at
the 14:34 mark. That was as many points as they scored in the
entire first half of last year's national semifinal, when they
trailed the Spartans 19-17 at the break.
Michigan State didn't lead until Richardson made a 3-pointer to
put it ahead 30-28 with 3:18 left. The Spartans closed the half
with an 11-2 run to lead 36-31 at halftime.
The second half, though, looked more like last year's games,
with the emphasis on defense.
"Their defense was excellent late in the game," Wisconsin
coach Brad Soderberg said. "I think they got juiced up by their
crowd, which is part of the beauty of a great home-court
advantage."
Izzo was relieved to win.
"I had confidence we could come back," he said. "But that's a
tough team to come back against. It's almost like a double win."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Wisconsin Clubhouse
Michigan State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 MSU's Charlie Bell makes his way through Wisconsin's defense.
avi: 1147 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
MSU's Jason Richardson throws down an in-your-face dunk against Wisconsin.
avi: 147 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Roy Boone throws down a huge slam for Wisconsin.
avi: 1020 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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