Spartans Get Point Hammered Home

The Wisconsin Badgers quietly waited in their locker room waiting to find out if they had won.

“When we heard their fans boo, we knew,” Wisconsin’s Freddie Owens said with a grin.

The Badgers ended the nation’s longest home winning streak at 53 games, defeating No. 25 Michigan State, 64-63, Saturday at East Lansing, Mich., after an alley-oop layup by Kelvin Torbert was disallowed with two-tenths of a second left.

Officials made the decision not to count Torbert’s basket after they watched television replays.

Michigan State’s loss and Detroit’s 75-74 overtime win over Wright State on Saturday give the Titans the longest home winning streak at 37 games.

“The better team won today,” said Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo, who agreed with the officials’ final decision. “It’s disheartening because a great streak has come to an end.”

The previous team to beat Michigan State at home was Purdue on March 1, 1998.

“We got just about what we deserved,” Izzo said.

Home fires doused: Another team that recently saw a long home-court winning streak end struggled for the second consecutive Saturday.

But No. 16 Boston College’s 70-43 home loss to Georgetown--the Eagles had won 25 in a row at home and now have a two-game losing streak there--was one guard Troy Bell took hard.

“This was the most embarrassing game I’ve ever been a part of in my life,” said Bell, who was held to eight points.

More losing: The end of the home-court winning streak carousel doesn’t stop spinning there. Georgia State, which also had won 25 in a row at home, lost to Jacksonville, 84-72, at Atlanta. On Thursday, Utah State’s 31-game home winning streak fell against UC Irvine.

Etched in Stone: Marvin Stone officially became a member of Louisville’s team before ever talking to Rick Pitino, something the Cardinal coach had said he needed to do to make a final decision.

Instead, it was Stone’s mother, Lois, who convinced Pitino in a phone conversation Friday night to take her son, who transferred from Kentucky, before she and Marvin met with Pitino on Saturday.

“I didn’t have to speak to Marvin after speaking with his mom,” Pitino said. “I wish more parents were like her. She’s the type of lady that, you get on the wrong side of her, you’re going to get a broom over your head. She’s a strong disciplinarian.”

Stealing the show: We’re not sure what Jehiel Lewis specialty is with the Navy, but perhaps he should angle for a career in espionage, especially if his ability to steal secrets is anywhere near his ability to steal a basketball.

In leading the Midshipmen to a 64-49 victory against Bucknell, Lewis racked up 21 points, nine assists and a school and Patriot League record 12 steals, one shy of the NCAA mark set twice by Oklahoma’s Mookie Blaylock in 1987 and ’88.

Lewis’ steal total is the most in Division I this season and he’s the fifth to have 12 in a game, the most recent being Texas Christian’s Greedy Daniels against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Dec. 30, 2000.

Temple of doom: Temple’s 60-42 victory against Rhode Island is typical of a John Cheney-coached team--gritty defense, opportunistic offense, late surge to win.

It also marked the 50th consecutive time the Owls have won when holding their opponents under 50 points.

Performance of the day: Keith McLeod, a 6-2 senior guard, scored a career-high 42 points to lead Bowling Green to an 85-73 victory against Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game at Amherst, N.Y. McLeod made 17 of 18 from the free-throw line as the Falcons improved to 13-1.

Performance of the weak: Long Island took a 20-point halftime deficit into the locker room and lost, 85-66, to Robert Morris at Coraopolis, Pa., as the Blackbirds fell to 0-13. They are one of only three teams in Division I still winless. Arkansas Pine Bluff (0-14) and Morgan State (0-14) are the others.