Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan knows how to beat Tom Izzo.
At least that's how the storyline has played out so far.
A last minute tip-in that was called off, a 53-game win streak snapped, a banner that was never raised and a second-half dunk that won't be forgotten.
All at the hands of Ryan and Co. who, since he has taken over, has found ways to beat Izzo in all five games he has coached against him.
But No.15 MSU hopes the tides have turned. The Spartans say they're confident, after seven straight wins and a 10-2 start and Wisconsin (11-3, 2-1) will be defending a 37-game win streak at the Kohl Center, the nation's longest.
"Not that I think breaking streaks is any reason to celebrate, getting a win is a reason to celebrate," Izzo said. "But there's some irony to the whole thing when they broke ours, can you go break theirs?
"That's not our motivation. Our motivation is going to be winning the game, but I'm sure in the back of everybody's mind, they know what it's cost us."
It was three years ago when the Spartans blew a 10-point lead in the second half that cost the Spartans their 53-game winning streak at home. After then-freshman forward Alan Anderson made one-of-two free throws and guard Marcus Taylor missed a layup, 0.2 seconds left remained on the clock.
Then-freshman guard Kelvin Torbert caught the inbound pass and hit a short shot as the crowd rushed the floor. But referees reviewed the play and called off the basket.
"I remember it well, most vividly the part when the fans ran on the court and they called off the play," senior guard Chris Hill said on Monday about the 64-63 loss. "It was disappointing to lose that streak."
The Wisconsin win helped the Badgers to a 12-4 record and a four-way tie for the Big Ten title that season. The first of Ryan's five wins over Izzo left MSU with an 11-5 record, one game from a championship.
More than a year later, MSU outshot Wisconsin, 52.4 percent to 37 percent, but 15 turnovers and missed free throws caused the Spartans to give up eight straight points after the score was knotted at 48.
To add to insult, with the final seconds ticking off and the game out of reach, Badger guard Devin Harris threw a lob pass to guard Alando Tucker, who ended the game with a dunk.
In anger, Izzo yelled "I'll remember that."
Izzo said Monday that he's never talked to Ryan about the incident. Wisconsin went on the win the Big Ten championship and MSU finished tied for third.
Last season, MSU dropped a 12-point lead to lose 77-64 in January fueled by 21 points from Harris. In early March, Harris hit a 3-pointer to tie a game with seconds left in the second half.
Hill would miss two free throws with 22 seconds left, and the game would go into overtime where MSU was outscored by 4 points, 68-64.
"If Chris gets that chance again I'm pretty sure he'll knock down those free throws," Torbert said.
The Spartans were set to raise a Big Ten banner that night, but the loss put them out of contention for the title again.
"I try not to think about it really anymore because it's very upsetting the way it turned out," junior center Paul Davis said. "I'm not going to have that in the back of my head going into this game. I'm going into this like we're playing a top 20 team and one of the best teams in the league."
MSU got one more chance in the Big Ten Tournament 11 days later, but despite a season-low of five turnovers and shooting 54.2 percent from the field, the result was the same - a loss. The fifth in a row.
"We pretty much had all the games won," Anderson said. "Devin Harris just made some tough baskets. He's a big-time player and he made big-time shots."
Before Ryan joined the Badgers in 2001, MSU and Izzo had won 13-of-14 games including one at the 2000 Final Four, when a Mateen Cleaves-led team went on to win a national championship.
Izzo says no team has had so much success against him since early in his head coaching career, when Michigan won five straight games.
"That was worse because those were 30-point losses," Izzo said.
Wisconsin has lost Harris to the NBA, but still has a team that can compete for a conference title. Izzo says he knows his team can compete with this Badger team.
"I just think that all other conversation about streaks and who's playing what school and where they're playing (none of it matters)," Ryan said on Monday.
"If you get caught up in all that with your players, it just takes away from what you're trying to do."
Izzo plans to take his team into Madison knowing the game is another Big Ten rival that he'd like to finally beat.
"I don't think it's a love story," Izzo said.
"But I have great respect for Bo and his program and what they've done. They just play a little different."
