For weeks, the game was circled in red ink. In this rivalry there is no middle ground and everyone in the state knows it. You grow up hating one school or the other. Michigan-Michigan State is one of those contests that demands the red-ink treatment regardless.
Michigan State and its fans were itching for revenge. Michigan had won five in a row against the Spartans, who were thrashed on Jan. 10 at Crisler Arena. Despite leading the Big Ten, last night's game was a Spartans season unto itself.
At the Breslin Center, the too-young Spartans brought the game of a first-place team and Michigan played the beaten role as cheers rained form the rafters of the frenzied arena.
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Mark Snyder
Mark My |
For any college town, there is little that excites students more than famous alumni. And last night, the only two jerseys hanging from the Breslin rafters came to life. Inspirational speeches delivered by Greg Kelser and Magic Johnson conjured up memories of Michigan State's only national championship team in 1979.
While Magic and Special K ran their mouths, the Spartans ran the ball. Prior to the contest, all indicators pointed to Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves as the determining factor. He was this season's Magic and thus far, this was his championship game.
Cheered on by a national-television audience and a sellout crowd of rowdy Spartan-lovers, Cleaves worked the floor. And the fans responded. A fake here, a running 3-pointer there and Cleaves could do no wrong.
While the certain Big Ten player of the year was showing off for ESPN with fake passes and ball tricks, the man on the receiving end of his perfect passes demonstrated unusual resolve as well. With his broken right wrist trapped in a plaster cast and his left appendage sprained as well, Morris Peterson literally rose to the occasion with two soaring alley-oop jams. Pain be damned, he seemed to say, this is Michigan.
And so the show went on.
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| MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan State's A.J. Granger gets a piece of Louis Bullock's jumper in the Spartans' 80-75 victory yesterday. Despite Bullock's 26 points and late-game heroics, the Wolverines fell in front of the harsh Breslin Center crowd.
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As Michigan vaulted back into this seemingly lost cause, the raucous fans quieted down and Michigan heated up.
With a young Spartan team such lapses are expected and yet, these players were past the age factor, having played beyond their years until this point. So why should anything change?
Breslin's finest began to re-light the fire under the slumping Spartans and did so in the only way they could - by attacking the opponent.
Earlier in the week, Michigan's players referred to the Michigan State fans as "creative."
The slurs came from all angles as Robbie Reid was told to "put a dress on" while backcourt mate Travis Conlan faced some local banter as an in-stater.
Traylor ignored creative catcalls of "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and "Have you driven a Ford lately?" to drive heavy and hard to the basket.
With dominant support from the fans abounding on every play, the Spartans knew they were being willed to victory.
During the first-half surge that would ultimately prove too much for Michigan to overcome, the fans were intense in their cheers, much of which carried over onto the court.
Brian Ellerbe sought a stop to the madness with several timeouts, but there would be no breaks in this game for Michigan. With a sellout crowd reinforcing every putback with a piercing cheer, the Spartans bounded off the court and into each other's arms. The players were mobbed on the court following the dramatic victory.
An outsider might ask, "If this follows a win over a fourth-place team, what happens when the Spartans clinch the Big Ten?"
Nothing much. This was the red mark, and on their court, in front of their fans, the Spartans delivered as promised.
- Mark Snyder can be reached via e-mail at msnyder@umich.edu.
02-18-98
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