Champs and chumps

Spartans win Big Ten title with victory

Michigan 58

Michigan St. 73

As the lower bowl of Crisler Arena slowly began to thin out, waves of maize-and-blue fans streaming towards the exits, a ring of green- and-white clad rooters in the upper rows of the arena weren't going anywhere.

As No. 4 Michigan State sealed its 73-58 victory over arch-rival Michigan to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, the Spartan faithful broke out a cheer that was more than due: "We own Crisler."

And for one night, they sure did.

Playing in front of a home crowd that was far from partisan - if anything, it was Spartisan - the Wolverines were embarrassed in their own building, by both their play and their crowd.

In a game that was closer than the score indicated - the Wolverines pulled to within seven with 4:20 to play - Michigan State took advantage of strong offensive rebounding and Michigan's inability to execute.

"I'm disappointed in our team," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "We didn't think. We played the game like we didn't know what we were doing."

Michigan (4-9 Big Ten, 10-16 overall) didn't box out, didn't set screens and, in the second half, couldn't get its shots to fall.

"It was the entire team," Ellerbe said. "Nobody played well today. You can point to excuses, but there is not excuse."

Spartan forward Antonio Smith had a field day on the boards, grabbing 14 of them. Michigan State (13-1, 24-4) outrebounded Michigan, 36-24.

In the second half, Michigan was unable to get any open looks at the basket, largely because they didn't create opportunities - screens and picks that should have been set weren't. The result? The Wolverines shot just .304 from the field in the second stanza.

But the Wolverines hung tight, in large part to 35 minutes of solid defense, and the Spartans didn't put the game away until there was just over three minutes to play. Michigan guard Louis Bullock had just missed a 3-pointer in which he appeared to be blatantly fouled, but when he appealed to the referee, he was promptly given a technical.

"I thought I got fouled," Bullock said. "I said something to him that he didn't like, but I didn't curse at him or say anything too bad."

It was the first technical in the senior's Michigan career. Michigan State's Morris Peterson drained both of the ensuing free throws and, when the Spartans got the ball back, all-America candidate Mateen Cleaves hit a layup, giving them a 13 point lead.

But the referees were calling the game tightly both ways. The Wolverines benefitted from a questionable technical as well, bringing them to within six points, their closest in the second half. With 11:24 to play in the game, just after Michigan's Robbie Reid layed in the ball to finish a fast break, Cleaves turned to a referee and appeared to say, "I get fouled every time I get the ball."

The referee, unimpressed, slapped Cleaves with the technical.

Michigan did a good job containing the Spartan's dynamic playmaker for most of the game. A consortium of Michigan defenders, led primarily by Bullock, held Cleaves to just six first-half points. But he exploded in the second stanza, finishing the game with 19. And when Cleaves didn't score, he made up for it in his court awareness and leadership. The guard shelled out four assists for the Spartans and ran

an offense that was effectively cut through Michigan's defense, getting the ball into the low post and exploiting Michigan's weak frontcourt.

"I was amazed by our unselfishness," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "Every night someone else seems to do something."

Last night it was the frontcourt, as Spartan forwards Jason Klein, Morris Peterson and A.J. Granger all scored in double-digits.

The Wolverines played a little off-kilter throughout the game. Bullock, normally

automatic from the charity stripe, uncharacteristically missed four free throws.

Michigan's usually reliable 3-point shooting was conspicuously absent, as the Wolverines hit just two of eight long-range shots.

And throughout the game, the Spartan fans were omnipresent. Despite being smaller in size, the Sparties were louder and more creative than Michigan's counterparts. Their cheers included "Seven walk-ons," "Should've gone (pro) last year," "Why so quiet?" and, to Michigan's fans, "We can't hear you."

"It was tough, especially for me as a senior," Bullock said of the crowd. "This is it for me. I certainly didn't want to end it like this."

LOUIS BROWN/Daily Josh Asselin, try all he might, couldn't reject Michigan State's bid for a Big Ten title, which it achieved with a 73-58 victory last night.

02-19-99