Peterson Provides Spark

Michigan State is Morris Peterson's team now.

He took over Saturday night when the rest of the Spartans were sputtering, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half as Michigan State beat Wisconsin 53-41.

"One more time," Peterson said. "We hope to make this thing happen."

The Spartans, who have won three straight Big Ten championships, have been on a mission to win the national title since losing to Duke in the national semifinals last year. This was the reason point guard Mateen Cleaves returned for his senior year.

Make no mistake, Cleaves is still the heart of this team. But more and more as the tournament has rolled on, Peterson has been the one to bail out the hot-and-cold Spartans.

"You got to give a lot of credit to Pete today," Cleaves said.

This is becoming a habit for Peterson.

Peterson scored 13 points in a comeback win over Utah, 21 in a win over Syracuse and 18 in a comeback victory over Iowa State in the Midwest regional final.

Yet none of those performances had the impact of Peterson's play against the tenacious Badgers and their turn-back-the-clock defense.

The first 20 minutes were brutal. The Spartans led only 19-17 at halftime and Florida fans - waiting for their semifinal against North Carolina - began chanting "This is boring."

Peterson must have heard them.

He opened the second half with a jumper in the paint. At the other end of the floor, he drew a charging call, and on the Spartans' ensuing possession, he pulled down an offensive rebound.

Peterson was just getting warmed up.

He scored five of Michigan State's next six baskets as the Spartans went off on an 18-5 run. His 3-pointer gave the Spartans a 37-22 lead with 8:47 left and another trey made it 43-29 with 3:48 remaining.

As the crowd roared, Peterson sought out Cleaves for a hug and quick high-five before heading back up the floor.

On a night when nothing was going right, suddenly everything looked just fine.

©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed