SYRACUSE, N.Y. – With more grit than pixie dust, Tom Izzo continues to work his March magic. The Michigan State Spartans, a team that didn’t even look like a sure bet for the NCAA tournament in January, are on their way to the Final Four for the third time in seven years, courtesy of a 76-70 overtime win over the Louisville Cardinals.
Here are five quick observations from the game.
It fits really, that Branden Dawson hit the bucket that sealed the victory. The senior, pushed and challenged by Izzo to carry this team, couldn’t play the last time the Spartans and Cards met in the NCAA tournament because of an injury. Michigan State lost that one. Not this time. Dawson’s banked putback on Bryn Forbes’ missed 3 wasn’t the game winner, but it was the cushion in a tightly fought, well-played game.
Nobody was terribly interested in recruiting Travis Trice out of high school. He was small, skinny, nothing like a Division I guard is supposed to look like. Izzo, an underdog his whole life, liked what he saw and rolled the dice. Four years later, Trice delivered the Spartans to the Final Four. The senior scored 17 points for the Spartans, made five assists and directed Michigan State through the vaunted Louisville press. Looking for a Final Four Shabazz Napier for 2015? It might just be him.
Clearly Izzo’s halftime message was all about defense. An entirely different Spartans team took the floor for the second half, pumped up to the point that Denzel Valentine repeatedly slapped the floor. The speech, or the game plan change, worked as Louisville, which scored 40 by the break, mustered little in the way of half-court offense. Michigan State played the guards much tighter and really made Montrezl Harrell work. The Cards were just 5-of-25 in the second half, scoring just 30 points in the entire second half and overtime.
The biggest concentration for the Spartans was clearly and understandably Harrell. He torched Michigan State for 12 points in the first half, making 6 of 7 shots. The second half was an entirely different story. Doubled and pestered every time he touched the ball, Harrell had just three points in the second half, one more in overtime. By effectively eliminating him from the offense, the Spartans put the brakes on Louisville’s scoring.
No surprise, but the 3-point line was a factor in this game. The Spartans, so good in transition, burned Louisville for nine 3s compared to just four for the Cardinals, and maybe none bigger than Forbes’ corner trey to open the overtime. And free throws -- free throws -- Michigan State actually hit them. The Spartans' Achilles' heel all season wasn’t nearly as painful when it mattered most. Michigan State was 15-of-20 from the line -- not perfect, but wildly better for a team that ranks 330th in that category nationally.