SPORTS
A storied contest
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Also by Drew Hansen:
- Wisconsin stuns No. 12 Maryland (December 1, 2004)
- Bo's Badgers roll in 2004 opener (November 22, 2004)
- Wisconsin prepares for Maryland's athleticism (November 30, 2004)
Related Stories:
- Washington State to hire Bennett (March 28, 2003)
- Buying into Bennett (November 11, 2003)
- Tony Bennett Not Pursuing UWGB Job (April 5, 2002)
- Athleticism abound for UW (October 27, 2005)
- Doesn't smell like a winner (September 24, 2004)
by Drew Hansen
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Moving to Madison from the suburbs of Washington, DC, I was not accustomed to Badger basketball. I was, at the most, vaguely familiar with them. I knew they had reached the final four the season before my matriculation to UW behind the success of Dick Bennett’s slow down offense and stingy defense. I also knew that by the end of that Badger season they probably could have beaten any team in the country with the exception of conference foe Michigan State.
And as a young freshman, bright-eyed and fully captivated in the fandom of Badger basketball, it seemed everyone was waiting for was the last home game of the season against the defending national champions. I didn’t have season tickets, but I watched every game that season, trying to turn myself into the aficionado I wanted to be.
Earlier in the 2000-01 season the Badgers had fallen to Michigan State in overtime at East Lansing, 69-59. The Badgers still had not found the vengeance every fan was looking for. UW had been eliminated in two tournaments by the Spartans in the previous season, and after winning seven straight conference games at the Kohl center, it looked as if the Badgers were going to claim their revenge.
After all the hype, and a pep rally the day before, the Badgers played a fantastic game against the Spartans on national television. Kirk Penney, then a sophomore, connected on two consecutive three-pointers from the corner, both miraculously making slight banks off the glass and into the hoop. It was as if some divine body had guided those shots into the basket, and that this ghost who had inhabited the rafters of the Kohl Center would find a way for the Badgers to take the win. But Tom Izzo and Jason Richardson vanquished the spirit, and pulled away late for a 51-47 win, crushing the collective hopes of every fan in the Kohl Center. The Badgers were still without vengeance.
That game, played Feb. 27, 2001, was the last time the Badgers lost a conference home game.
The next season Wisconsin had the Spartans scheduled for only one game, at East Lansing. By the time Jan. 12 came around, the Badgers had won five of their last seven, while the Spartans had their home win streak up to an astounding 53 consecutive games. Under the new leadership of Bo Ryan the Badgers were up 64-63 with two-tenths of a second left. The Spartans made an inbounds pass from underneath the hoop to Kelvin Torbert who banked one in, seemingly giving Michigan State the victory. But the ever aware Bo Ryan came storming off the sidelines to tell the referees that, according to the rule book, with less than three-tenths of a second, a player didn’t have enough time to catch and shoot. After reviewing the play the referees called the shot off to the dismay of the Breslin Center, and the Badgers finally had their retribution.
But it was a win by technicality; a win with an asterisk next to it. In the minds of many the Badgers had not achieved their revenge.
This all builds to today, where the Spartans travel to Madison looking for their revenge, and the Badgers have something to prove. A win against Michigan State would not be a win against a ranked team, but still a bigger win then the Badgers have had this season. With the Spartans winners of four of their last five, including two over ranked teams, the Badgers need the win to supplant themselves as a contender in the Big Ten.
The Badgers also need the win to hold their conference home game win streak in tact. The number has reached 12 spanning almost two full years. Tonight is an opportunity to draw the line, fully establish the Kohl Center as a building to fear, and a chance to finally put the stamp on Michigan State.
