Indianapolis - The Spartans can't help their coach beat Bo Ryan.
MSU had another opportunity to defeat Wisconsin on Saturday evening in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, but the Spartans' chance clanked off the back of the rim.
Down by two points with 4.8 seconds on the clock, Spartans sophomore guard Maurice Ager grabbed a rebound and sprinted up the floor, but a last-ditch 18-foot jumper hit off the back of the rim, leaving the Badgers with a 68-66 triumph.
"I don't think I could have gotten a better look," Ager said after the game. "I shot the ball and I thought it was going to go in."
When the buzzer beater didn't fall, the heads of the entire MSU bench sunk in disbelief.
The loss was the Spartans' fifth straight to No. 10 Wisconsin (23-6), and dropped MSU head coach Tom Izzo to 0-5 all-time against Ryan, Wisconsin's head coach. The fourth setback, a 68-64 overtime loss at Breslin Center, kept the Spartans from a share of the Big Ten Championship.
Saturday was MSU's third defeat to Wisconsin this season, marking the first time since the 1960-61 season that MSU lost three times to one opponent. That year, the Spartans, who finished 7-17 under head coach Forrest Anderson, dropped three games to Minnesota.
"This team did everything that you can do to win a basketball game," Izzo said. "I feel worse than they do because they did everything very well.
"Usually, I'm licking wounds, but I can't ask for much more statistically from my team than they gave me today."
Stat-wise, the numbers traditionally would point toward a Spartans victory. MSU shot 54.2 percent from the field (26-for-48), 9-for-11 from the free-throw line, had three players scoring in double figures and committed a season-low five turnovers. And the Spartans, who were 13-0 when leading at halftime, had a 35-30 advantage at the break.
When asked what the Spartans could possibly have done better, junior guard Alan Anderson, who had six points and an assist, had one word: "Won."
"We had the game in our control and we couldn't put the cap on it," Anderson said.
But the Badgers matched and even bettered the Spartans in many categories. Despite shooting 46.9 percent from the field, Wisconsin equaled the Spartans' 12 assists and five turnovers. The Badgers also outrebounded MSU, 29-25, sunk more 3-pointers (9-15) and nearly doubled free-throw attempts (19-11).
And, of course, when the final buzzer sounded, the Badgers had a two-point victory.
"Each possession was a war and I can't wait to look at this on tape," Ryan said. "That's a heck of a basketball game."
MSU defeated Northwestern, 68-55, on Friday in its first Big Ten Tournament matchup to advance to the semifinals. The Spartans, who beat the Wildcats for the third time this season, survived 18 turnovers by outrebounding the Wildcats, 35-21, and holding them to 38.6 percent shooting from the field.
After a brutal nonconference schedule, which was supposed to prepare the Spartans for the Big Ten season and beyond, MSU mustered just one victory in 10 tries against teams in the RPI Top 50, a key used in selecting and seeding NCAA Tournament teams.
MSU's lone victory came against DePaul, which finished in a five-way tie for the Conference USA Championship.
"We gave it everything we've got," said sophomore center Paul Davis, who led the Spartans on Saturday with 16 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
"We're not giving up 'til the season is done. It doesn't matter if that's the first game or the national championship game. It's hard to keep taking these blows, but we keep getting up."
