NCAA Tournament 2000 - Wisconsin trying to avoid fourth loss to Spartans

Wisconsin trying to avoid fourth loss to Spartans
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin played Michigan State three times this season and lost all three times. The Badgers get one more crack, only now the winner gets to play for the national championship.

Coach Dick Bennett is blunt about what it means to be playing against coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans yet again.

"Pain ... misery," Bennett said. "Once the game starts, I think we have the toughest opponent in America. We still have not been able to solve all of the problems they present."

If the Badgers are excited or overwhelmed at the prospect of facing the top-seeded Spartans on a national stage, they're not showing it. While meeting with reporters in Madison on Monday, the Badgers acted as though they expected to be in this extraordinary situation all along.

"It's just another game," said forward Andy Kowske. "It's like Purdue. They know you, you know them. ... It's a matter of who puts the ball in the hoop more."

The eighth-seeded Badgers, along with No. 8 seed North Carolina, became the lowest-seeded team to make the Final Four since LSU in 1986. Wisconsin (22-13) beat Purdue on Saturday for the third time this season, 64-60, to win the NCAA West Regional.

The Badgers have had a much tougher time with Michigan State, which is returning to the Final Four for the second straight year. Though the Spartans never embarrassed Wisconsin, each of the three wins was convincing.

"It's tough when you have a team that has a lot of different options like Michigan State does, especially when you have a strong leader like Mateen (Cleaves) who can take over the game and really control the tempo," said Mike Kelley, selected to the all-West Regional team after averaging 4.3 steals a game.

"They don't get credit for their defense a lot. It's so strong that it's very difficult to run an offense against them. It wears you down and takes a little bit away from our defense."

Bennett said Michigan State will present the toughest defense the Badgers have seen in the tournament. Wisconsin shot just 34.6 percent in its three losses to Michigan State.

"We've never shot the ball well against them because they cut your comfort space down," he said. "You don't have space and you don't have time."

Kowske said Wisconsin's familiarity with Michigan State should help.

"We don't have to watch any extra tape. We know what we're going up against," he said. "We've shown this year we can play with them. It might be tough to beat us four times in a row."

Wisconsin's 55-46 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament was the Badgers' only loss in their last 10 games. In a regular-season loss at East Lansing, the Badgers outrebounded the Spartans 29-26, becoming the only team to outrebound Michigan State to that point.

"That was a fluke," Bennett said. "I don't think we could outrebound our women's team on a consistent basis."

Still, Bennett said his players' attitude has been unwavering no matter who they have played.

"These guys are bulldogs. They won't admit defeat. They won't feel second-rate ever. They won't allow themselves to think that way."

Bennett and his team say the excitement of the school's best season in a half-century won't take them out of their routine. Badgermania reached its peak when a welcome-home party of 20,000 fans at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night stretched into Sunday morning, with fans hanging from light posts and marching from campus through Madison's downtown.

"It's great to have the attention, but you still have to play the basketball game," Kowske said. "We're not going to let it go to our head."


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