MADISON, Wis. — No, it's not Duke-North Carolina (or
North Carolina-Duke, depending on your preference), but the growing rivalry
between Wisconsin and Michigan State just seems to get more interesting every
time these two Big Ten Conference teams take to the court.
And in that regard, Tuesday was just another run-of-the-mill white-knuckler
for the Badgers and the Spartans, who played to the wire in a 63-60 Michigan
State victory that included an overtime and a lengthy officials' review before
becoming final.
Wisconsin thought it had forced a second OT when Ryan Evans banked in a
3-pointer as time expired. But an extensive review by the officials found that
Evans' shot had come after time expired.
"They said it was in his hands when the clock hit zero-zero-zero,"
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "I thought they were questioning (whether it
was a two- or 3-pointer) because it was ruled good.
"The presence of Ryan to get the ball and take it out that fast … he
got it out and got the shot off. It actually played out. I thought he was
spot-on."
Adding to the confusion was two conflicting clocks on the replay. The clock
above the basket read 0:00 when Evans released the ball. But the clock on the
arena's ribbon board — the one above the lower-level seats — clearly showed
two-tenths of a second when the ball left his hands.
Referee Pat Driscoll said that the officials watched the replay seven times
and were also looking to see if Evans was in fact behind the 3-point line. He
also said the officials noticed the clock discrepancy during the review, but
the rules state that the official time is the one displayed by the clock on the
backboard.
"In our review, the clock clearly showed zeros while the ball remained
in the Wisconsin player's hands," Driscoll said.
Once the officials overturned their decision, the Spartans celebrated and
another chapter was closed in the history of this sometimes bitter rivalry,
which strangely enough, began in a similar fashion to Tuesday's conclusion.
Before Ryan's arrival in Madison prior to the 2001-02 season, the Badgers
had dropped 12 of the previous 13 meetings with Michigan State. Since Ryan took
over, Wisconsin had won 13 of 19 games before Tuesday.
In the teams' first meeting during the Ryan era, Michigan State saw a
10-point lead disappear in the second half. The Spartans thought they'd won the
game on a last-second tip-in by Kelvin Tolbert — prompting the Michigan State
student section to rush the court — but a review by officials determined the
tip came after time expired and handed Wisconsin a 64-63 victory, snapping the
Spartans' 53-game winning streak at the Breslin Center.
Ryan thought about that game Tuesday when he was asked his feelings on
losing in such a dramatic fashion.
“Eleven years ago, we were in this position and stole one at Michigan State
and broke their 53-game win streak,” Ryan said. “Sometimes payback is payback.
What are you going to do? Violence is out of the question. They all sting to
me.”
The rivalry intensified in 2003 when Wisconsin pulled away late in a 64-53
victory at the Kohl Center, a contest punctuated by a lob and dunk from Devin
Harris to Alando Tucker at the end of the game.
During the postgame handshakes, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told Ryan he'd
“(expletive) remember that,” to which Ryan responded with a nonchalant “OK.”
The Badgers would go on to win their second consecutive Big Ten title while
the Spartans finished third.
A year later, Wisconsin won the first of two meetings between the two teams,
and with the Big Ten title on the line in the rematch, Badgers coaches noticed
the league championship banner was rolled up in the rafters of the Breslin
Center, waiting to be unfurled following a Michigan State victory. Wisconsin
tied the game late and won it in overtime.
They met again in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and again, Wisconsin
prevailed late, leading to brisk sales of “Bo Owns Izzo” shirts in Madison.
Things have cooled considerably between the two teams since, but each
meeting had something on the line. In 2007, just after Wisconsin was ranked No.
1 in the country for the first time in school history, the Spartans pulled off
an upset in East Lansing.
Off the court, the rivalry between the two schools has grown thanks to
increased competitiveness between the football squads the past few seasons. A
year ago, Michigan State handed Wisconsin its only loss of the regular season,
but the Badgers won the tiebreaker between the two schools (and Ohio State) and
received the Big Ten's Rose Bowl berth.
The Spartans again knocked off the Wisconsin football team this season,
winning on a last-second Hail Mary at Spartan Stadium. But the Badgers
extracted their revenge, rallying for a victory in the inaugural Big Ten Championship
Game, earning a second consecutive Rose Bowl trip.
Tuesday, Izzo made reference to that series in his postgame remarks.
“When you look at this year in football, I think we deserve to win,” he
said. “Over the years, I've gained more and more respect for Wisconsin. ...
It's been a pretty good rivalry, and now with football, who knows, maybe it'll
become one of the better rivalries.”
Nope. It's certainly not Duke-UNC (Sorry ... UNC-Duke). It's not
Xavier-Cincinnati. It will never match the panache of UCLA-Notre Dame in the
old days, but as far as contemporary rivalries ... few are more entertaining
these days than Wisconsin-Michigan State.
