Michigan State Spartans
March 5, 1999

Back to reality for the basketball Badgers yesterday in the Big Ten semis against Michigan State. Despite playing their usual solid defense, taking care of the ball effectively, and even holding their own in the rebounding category, the game was an ugly one. Simply put, they flat out couldn't shoot the ball. When the Badgers played MSU in the final week of the season, I think you could commend the Spartan defense. However, yesterday, the looks were there. The Badgers got the shots they needed, they just couldn't throw the ball in the ocean, going scoreless for over 10 minutes in one strecth.

Here are the game grades:

Andy Kowske: A
Kowske continued his stellar play with his best offensive game of his career. Kowske displayed a nice variety of inside moves along with a nice face the basket jumper. He also hit all of his 3 free throws on the way to 15 points, 6 rebounds, and a block. Hand it to Andy, who noticably tried to pick up the slack for the guards. For the most part, he kept Antonio Smith from becoming too much of a factor on the offensive glass, although Smith did get things going a little late when Kowske was forced to give some help on penetrating guards.

Charlie Wills: C-
Like Kowske, Wills tried to pick up the offensive slack, but just couldn't get his short to medium range jumpers to drop (2 for 6). Had 6 rebounds in 19 minutes and did a super job on Hutson inside.

Sean Mason: F
Hard to be generous in the grading when a player shoots 3 for 15, many of them on pretty decent looks. Mason's problems were typified by going only 1 for 3 from the line. It was obvious that after missing a few early, he began hanging his head a bit and began looking to the refs to bail him out on some calls (sorry Sean, not in the Big Ten, although I think your claims were legit). He was also benched once for not hustling back on defense and was the man guarding Bell to start the second half when Bell was given two unconstested three pointers that really turned the tide of the game. Turned the ball over twice as opposed to 2 assists. On the plus side, Mason was big on the boards with 9.

Ty Calderwood: D-
Took much better care of the ball (no turnovers) but was an otherwise bust on offense, shooting 1 for 6, failing to get to the line, and only gathering 1 assist in 26 minutes. Defensively, he spent more time on Cleaves than in past matchups (it seemed) and although Cleaves did not run wild, he was able to get in the lane fairly consistently for 11 assists.

Mike Kelley: C-
Once again, Kelley came off the bench. Overall, he was pretty much a zero in terms of any numbers, going scorless with only 1 rebound and 1 assist (and 0 steals). Even for a role player like Kelley, this qualifies as a disappointing game. Defensively, he spent much of the game on Klein and as could be expected, Klein was totally shut down. At times, he also played Cleaves and did a better job than Calderwood.

Jon Bryant: F
0 for 6. 2 turnovers. Any questions?

Mark Vershaw: B
Vershaw showed some glimpses of offense at times, especially late in the game, leading one to wonder what might have happened if they had gone to him more in the post. Ever since his bad game against Illinois against an aggressive double team, Vershaw has seemed less and less involved with the offense. For the game, Vershaw finished 4 for 8 which was the offensive highlight for the team (other than Kowske). Throw in 4 boards, 2 assists, and a block, to go with a decent defensive presence, and you have a small bright spot.

Maurice Linton: F
Couldn't buy a shot (0 for 4). Committed a team high 3 turnovers. Maurice always seemed to be a step out of the play or just couldn't seem to finish (see his terrible pass on the dish to Kowske). Didn't get pushed around as much as you might expect against a very physical team, but didn't shine either.

David Burkemper: A
An offensive juggernaut. Drained his only 3 attempt.

Travon Davis: A
In his only offensive possession, made a nice penetrating move and kicked out for the Burkemper "3".

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