CHICAGO—After not seeing conference rival Michigan State (9-8 Big Ten, 22-10 overall) for the first 28 games of the season, the UW men's basketball team will play the Spartans for the third time in four games Friday.
Behind junior guard Drew Neitzel's 20 points, MSU topped Northwestern 62-57 Thursday in Chicago, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with the No. 2 seeded Badgers (13-3, 27-4).
The Spartans took control early, but allowed the Wildcats to claw their way back into the game. Neitzel hit all four of his first half 3-point attempts and MSU shot 67 percent in the first 20 minutes to jump out to a 32-23 halftime lead. After holding NU to 32 percent shooting in the first half, the Spartan defense relaxed a little bit and Northwestern came back by hitting 6-of-10 3-pointers in the last 20 minutes.
""Once we got that 16-point lead I thought we just played instead of having that killer instinct,"" MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
Northwestern actually had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but an inopportune turnover cost the Wildcats. After forcing MSU sophomore center Goran Suton to take a tough shot with 16 seconds left, freshman guard Jeremy Nash grabbed the rebound. Down 60-57, it looked as though NU was going to have a chance at a game-tying 3-pointer.
Unfortunately, as Nash turned to outlet the pass to sophomore guard Craig Moore, Moore looked away and the pass bounced out of bounds. Two Travis Walton free-throws preserved a 62-57 victory that likely seals an NCAA Tournament berth for the Spartans.
While the NCAA Tournament at-large berth is not a guarantee, MSU's goal right now will be to win the Big Ten Tournament and Wisconsin is the next team standing in its way.
For UW, Friday's game will be its second in a row against Michigan State—and with a week of rest, Wisconsin should be prepared. Izzo said the game will be a matchup of fatigue versus familiarity with the United Center. Neitzel and Walton played a combined 75 minutes Thursday, but Wisconsin has not played in the United Center since its Big Ten Tournament Championship loss to Illinois in 2005.
Two players who are familiar with each other are Neitzel and UW junior guard Michael Flowers. Neitzel has scored a combined 50 points in two games against Flowers this season, but the UW junior was just named to the Big Ten all-defensive team this week.
""[Flowers] is a great defender, you know, all-defensive team, but at the same time I've had some great games against him this year,"" Neitzel said. ""He's a great defender and he has challenged me and none of my shots that I have gotten have been easy.""
Wisconsin and Michigan State are 1-1 against each other this year, with the home team winning each contest. Friday's game will decide the season series on a neutral floor.
""It's been a great rivalry in the Big Ten over the past. [We have] two solid programs so I think it is going to be a great game tomorrow,"" Neitzel said.
While Michigan State's defense struggled in the second half Thursday, the team shot well the entire game—something Wisconsin has not been doing well lately.
""Our players wanted to come here to shoot at eight in the morning so we got up at 7:03 and shazam, we shoot 57 percent. Shows the players are smarter than the coaches,"" Izzo joked.
Friday's tip-off is set for 5:40 p.m.
Wolverines beat Gophers
In an ugly slugfest of a game, No. 8 seed Michigan (9-8, 21-11) defeated No. 9 seed Minnesota (3-14, 9-22) 49-40 Thursday. The two combined for the lowest point total in the 10-year history of the Big Ten Tournament.
""Both teams were struggling to put it in the basket. But in terms of us, we don't really want to look at the offensive side of things and base our performance on that,"" Michigan senior guard Dion Harris said. ""The main thing was trying to get easy baskets since both teams were struggling to put it in as far as shooting from the outside, so that's what we did.""
With the win, Michigan moves on to face No. 1 Ohio State. The Wolverines lost by five to the Buckeyes last Saturday.
Illini tame Nittany Lions
In the third and final game of Thursday's opening round action, Illinois beat Penn State 66-60 behind sophomore guard Chester Frazier's 21 points.
The fourth-seeded Illini (10-7, 22-10) held a 27-22 lead at halftime despite only hitting 4-of-17 first-half 3-point attempts. They opened the second half on 14-3 run and pulled away.
Penn State (2-15, 11-19), led by junior Mike Walker's Big Ten Tournament record seven 3-pointers, mounted a late comeback. Walker scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and the Nittany Lions trimmed the Illini lead to 59-57 with 1:35 remaining. That would be as close as PSU would get, however, as Illinois countered with a Shaun Pruitt layup and held on to the lead.
Illinois moves on to the quarterfinals where it will face No. 3 Indiana (10-6, 20-9) at 8:10 p.m. Friday.
