COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES

Wisconsin became the first eighth-seeded team to advance to the Final Four since Villanova in 1985.

Some Badgers are starting to compare this team to that Villanova squad, which shocked Georgetown to win the national title.

“I’m kind of hoping it will be a repeat of the ’85 tourney,” Wisconsin center Mark Vershaw said. “We’re hoping we can do a Villanova.”

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This has been a great season for Wisconsin athletics. The football team won the Rose Bowl, the basketball team made the Final Four, and the hockey team is ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Athletic Director Pat Richter thinks the basketball team’s accomplishment may be the most remarkable.

“Nobody really understands how big this thing is,” Richter said.

Wisconsin is the first school to earn a berth in the Final Four and Rose Bowl in the same year since Michigan did it in 1992 and ’93.

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Saturday, for the first time in his 35 years as a high school and college coach in Wisconsin, Coach Dick Bennett cut down a net to celebrate a victory.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cut a net down, even when I’ve had the chance,” Bennett explained. “I have two artificial hips, and they don’t like to climb ladders. But today, I could have jumped up and cut the net down.”

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Bennett knows beating Michigan State next week is going to be a daunting task. The Badgers have lost three games since Feb. 12, all to the Spartans.

“They do things I dream about doing,” Bennett said.

Michigan State beat Wisconsin on Feb. 12, 61-44, on Feb. 19, 59-54, and in the Big Ten Tournament, 55-46.

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Yes, there was a “Lav” siting in the Pit. UCLA Coach Steve Lavin, who began his career as a graduate assistant to Coach Gene Keady, sat next to Keady’s wife in the Purdue cheering section. Lavin’s loyalties were clear. He was avidly rooting for the Boilermakers.