Injuries have plagued the Michigan State Spartans all year, but they managed a two-seed in the NCAA tournament. Many believed that the Spartans were seeded way too high and would surely lose to Kansas in the Sweet 16.
Those doubters were wrong
I was one of those doubters and when they escaped with a five point win over 10th seeded USC, it appeared obvious that the Spartans were overrated. Their leading scorer averaged just 14.7 points per game, and their second leading scorer, Raymar Morgan, was previously injured and did not look like the same player as in the beginning a season. Trailing by five to Kansas with less than two minutes left, it looked like Michigan State was about to be sent packing.
But the Spartans came roaring back to beat Kansas, led by leading scorer Kalin Lucas, and they took that momentum into the Elite Eight where they defeated top-seeded Louisville with ease.
After being underdogs for the past couple of games, it came to nobody’s surprise when top-seeded Connecticut was favored. But this game was being played in the Spartans backyard at Ford Field in Detroit. Over 72,000 fans packed the stadium, the majority of them there to cheer on Michigan State. They were not disappointed.
Connecticut had won plenty of their games with intimidation. Whenever an opponent tried to get into the paint, seven foot, three-inch big man, Hasheem Thabeet waited to swat away the shot. If he isn’t there, then other bigs Jeff Adrian and Stanley Robinson were adept shot-blockers.
So how did Michigan State coach Tom Izzo try to prevent this from happening?
Get out and run.
Lucas started many of the fast breaks, including a huge 8-2 run that took the life out of the Huskies. Michigan State was up by eleven with two minutes left, but UConn did not become a one seed by giving up. They were able to use an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three with one minute remaining, but the Spartans held on to win by 82-73.
North Carolina was able to advance to the National Championship differently than Michigan State did. The Tar Heels were favorites in every single game they played and did not really face a test all tournament. With their two stars returning for another year in ACC player of the year Ty Lawson and all-American Tyler Hansbrough, anything short of a championship would be considered a failure for Roy Williams’ team.
The Tar Heels dominated Villanova in a Final Four game that was never even close, setting up a date with the Spartans. The two teams met earlier this season at Michigan State, with the Tar Heels smoking Michigan State by over thirty points.
Like seemingly every game in this tournament, North Carolina is the favorite and Michigan State is the underdog. The Tar Heels are favored by seven points in the National Championship on April 6th, but don’t even think about counting out the Spartans.
I won’t make that mistake again.
--Submitted by Charlie Morrissey, Staff Reporter |
