Michigan St. Wins in Style This Time

Shots were made, plays were executed and a player could run without fear of a flying elbow.

Yes, the first half of Saturday’s game between No. 3-ranked Michigan State and No. 17 Wisconsin at East Lansing, Mich., didn’t look at all like the four gritty, low-scoring games the two teams played last season, all of which were won by the Spartans--including the NCAA semifinal.

The second half, though, looked more like last season’s games, with the emphasis on defense--and Michigan State again prevailed, 69-59 in overtime.

The defending national champion Spartans, 14-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, extended the country’s longest home-winning streak to 39 games and defeated the Badgers (10-4, 1-3) for the seventh consecutive time.

Wisconsin made six of its first seven shots and led 17-9 at 14:34. That was as many points as the Badgers scored in the entire first half of last year’s national semifinal, when they trailed 19-17 at the break en route to a 53-41 loss.

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.

Both teams had made 52% of their shots in the first half, with Michigan State taking a 36-31 lead.

Michigan State dug in defensively in the second half and had a 50-40 lead with 7:56 left when Wisconsin countered with a 17-2 run.

Freshman Jason Richardson ended a Spartan scoring drought of nearly seven minutes to cut their deficit to 57-54. After the Badgers’ Mike Kelley missed the front end of a one-and-one, Charlie Bell, who had missed three consecutive three-point shots, scored from beyond the arc to tie the game at 57 with 28.5 seconds left.

“I just had faith in him--he’s a winner,” said Michigan State Coach Izzo of Bell, a senior guard. “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.”

Wisconsin’s Mark Vershaw missed a contested 10-foot shot with about two seconds left, and the game went to overtime. A spectacular dunk by Richardson after taking an alley-oop pass from Bell sealed the outcome with 52.7 seconds. Richardson led all scorers with 25 points.

No. 2 Duke 103, No. 10 Virginia 61--The Blue Devils (15-1, 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) went on a 23-0 run in the first half at Durham, N.C., in defeating the Cavaliers (11-3, 1-3) for the 12th consecutive time.

All of Duke’s starters scored in double figures, led by Nate James at 19 points.

Virginia, which started the season 10-0, shot 27% and was held 30 points below its scoring average.

No. 4 Tennessee 79, South Carolina 71--The Volunteers (16-1, 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference) led by double figures nearly the entire game at Knoxville, Tenn., in maintained their best start in school history.

Tennessee made 20 of 34 shots to take a 50-35 halftime lead and was ahead by as many as 18 points as South Carolina (9-5, 1-2) made only three of its first 22 shots in the second half.

No. 5 Kansas 69, No. 22 Oklahoma 61--Jeff Boschee made four of eight three-point shots en route to 16 points at Norman, Okla., as the Jayhawks (13-1, 2-0 in the Big 12) won their sixth in a row. Boschee had made only five of his previous 31 three-point attempts.

Oklahoma (12-3, 1-2) shot a season-low 32%. Leading scorer Aaron McGhee, averaging 16 points a game, missed all nine of his shots and didn’t score.

Kenny Gregory had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Kansas.

Georgia Tech 95, No. 6 Wake Forest 89--Freshman Halston Lane had 21 points as the Yellowjackets (10-5, 2-2 in the ACC) defeated a top 10 team for the second time this week with an overtime victory at Atlanta. It was the first consecutive victories over nationally ranked teams since 1996 for Georgia Tech, which defeated No. 10 Virginia Tuesday at Charlottesville, Va.

Wake Forest (13-2, 2-2) forced the overtime when Ervin Murray tipped in a missed shot just a split-second before the buzzer sounded. The Demon Deacons, however, missed five consecutive shots to start the overtime, allowing the Yellow Jackets to take a six-point lead they maintained.

No. 7 Illinois 80, Michigan 51--The Illini (13-4, 3-1 in the Big Ten)--playing without leading scorer Frank Williams--had a strong defensive effort at Champaign, Ill., holding the Wolverines (7-7, 1-2) at 27.7% shooting.

Williams was sidelined with bruised tailbone and sprained right ankle suffered in Thursday’s loss to Iowa, but four Illinois players scored in double figures, led by Brian Cook’s 17 points. Sergio McClain had a triple-double (11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists).

No. 9 North Carolina 84, Marquette 54--Brendan Haywood had 17 points, nine rebounds and blocked five shots at Chapel Hill, N.C., as the Tar Heels (13-2) stretched their winning streak to 10 games.

Marquette (7-6) was outrebounded, 50-26.

Julius Peppers, playing his first game since saying he would not enter the NFL draft, had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels. He made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Marquette entered the game outrebounding teams by an average of six per game, but North Carolina nearly doubled the Golden Eagles at 50-26. The Tar Heels also had 19 offensive rebounds, including six by Haywood.

No. 11 Syracuse 86, West Virginia 80--Preston Shumpert scored 25 points and DeShaun Williams had 23 to help the Orangemen (15-1, 4-0 in the Big East) overcome 65.4% shooting by the Mountaineers (9-4, 0-2) in the second half at Syracuse, N.Y.

West Virginia’s Lionel Armstead made six of 11 three-point shots for all of his points.

No. 12 Georgetown 96, Virginia Tech 68--The Hoyas (15-0, 3-0 in the Big East) forced 10 turnovers in taking a 31-6 lead in the first 11 minutes at Washington.

Georgetown is off to the best start in school history since the 1984-85 NCAA runner-up team that won its first 18.

Virginia Tech (7-8, 1-2) finished with 25 turnovers.

Providence 81, No. 13 Connecticut 68--The Friars (11-4, 2-1 in the Big East) made nine of their first 14 three-point shots to take a double-digit lead that they maintained almost the entire second half at Providence, R.I.

Providence matched last season’s victory total and defeated Connecticut (13-3, 2-2) for the first time in six games. The Huskies had 22 turnovers, with highly regarded freshman point guard Taliek Brown accounting for eight.

Pittsburgh 77, No. 15 Seton Hall 65--The Panthers (10-5, 2-2 in the Big East) made 61.5% of their shots in the second half at Pittsburgh in defeating a Top 25 team for the first time in three seasons.

Seton Hall (11-4, 2-2) made only five of 24 three-point--a stark contrast to a 13-for-25 effort that led the Pirates to a 14-point victory at Pittsburgh last season.

Seton Hall freshman Eddie Griffin, suspended for punching teammate Ty Shine following a loss to Georgetown on Jan. 6, had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Darius Lane, the Pirates’ leading scorer, was held to eight points--11 below his average.

No. 16 Alabama 72, Mississippi State 59--Rod Grizzard scored 27 points as the Crimson Tide (13-2, 2-1) beat the Bulldogs (9-4, 1-2) for the 65th time in 77 games at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Mississippi State came in averaging 82 points, but shot only 34% en route to its lowest point total of the season. The Bulldogs have lost seven consecutive conference road games.

Georgia 70, No. 20 Mississippi 66--The Bulldogs (9-7, 2-1 in the SEC) overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes at Oxford, Miss.

D.A. Layne scored 19 of his 21 points in a second half in which Georgia shot 57%.

Mississippi (14-2, 2-1) allowed Georgia only 24 points and 36% shooting in the first half.

Nebraska 80, No. 23 Texas 67--The Cornhuskers (8-7, 1-1) led throughout the game at Lincoln, Neb., scoring 20 of their final 22 points on free throws.

Texas (12-3, 2-1) shot 33% in having its win streak end at seven and losing to Nebraska for the first time in five games. Darren Kelly, with 31 points, was the only Longhorn to score in double figures.

No. 24 Boston College 82, Miami 73--Troy Bell made all 17 of his free throws--a school record--and had a game high 27 points to lead the Eagles (12-1, 3-1 in the Big East) past the Hurricanes (8-7, 0-4) at Boston.

Kenny Harley, in his first game for Boston College since being arrested for his role in a bar fight following a 85-68 victory over Connecticut on Jan. 3, made seven of eight shots and had 17 points.

Kentucky 82, No. 25 Notre Dame 71--Tayshaun Prince had 19 points and eight rebounds at Lexington, Ky., to lead the Wildcats (9-5) to their sixth consecutive victory.

Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy scored a season-low 14 points, 10 points below his average. The Irish (9-5) had five players score in double figures.

OTHERS

Reggie Evans scored 17 points and tied a career-high with 18 rebounds to help give Iowa (14-2, 3-0) sole possession of first place in the Big Ten in an 83-73 victory over Purdue (11-4, 3-1) at West Lafayette, Ind. Iowa’s Luke Recker, playing his first game in his home state since he transferred from Indiana following the 1998-99 season, scored only five points before fouling out with a minute left in the game. Recker was loudly booed during introductions and whenever he touched the ball. . . . Ohio State (11-4, 2-2 in the Big Ten) had a 23-point lead with 15 minutes left dwindle to one in the final minute but held on for a 75-72 victory over Minnesota (13-3, 1-2) at Columbus, Ohio. . . . Utah (10-6, 2-0 in the Mountain West) scored the game’s last 10 points in a 79-70 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (10-6, 1-1) to extend its home-court conference win streak to 39--longest in the nation. . . . Fresno State (15-2, 4-0 in the Western Athletic Conference) increased its win streak to 11 with a 92-86 victory over Southern Methodist (12-4, 3-1) at Fresno.