Spartans delight home crowd
DETROIT – As his Michigan State teammates hustled downcourt, Kalin Lucas looked around at a stadium ablaze in green and white, turned on his megawatt smile and raised both his arms.
No worries, he seemed to be saying, we’re here for you, as the Spartans defeated Connecticut 82-73 in the NCAA men’s basketball semis.
Carrying an entire state knocked down by the economic crisis is a lot to ask of a group of college kids, but the Spartans are proving they’re more than up to the task.
“It means so much, so much,” said Magic Johnson, who sat just a few rows behind the Michigan State bench Saturday night. “It’s been all bad news the last couple of years.”
It’s nothing but good news now. Lucas scored 21 points, Raymar Morgan broke out of his late-season slump with 18 and nine rebounds, and the smaller Spartans ran roughshod over Hasheem Thabeet and the Huskies in the Final Four on Saturday. The Spartans (31-6) now will play North Carolina for the NCAA title Monday night, giving the city and state at least two more days to forget all the bad news and revel in their Spartans’ success.
It’s Michigan State’s first appearance in the title game since 2000, when the Spartans won their second title.
“I hope we were a ray of sunshine, a distraction for them, a diversion, anything else we can be,” coach Tom Izzo said. “We’re not done yet, so hopefully we can continue to make them feel a little better and us feel a lot better.”
The loss is the latest blow for UConn, the best team in the country until Jerome Dyson went down with a knee injury in mid-February. The Huskies (31-5) have been dealing with distractions since last May, when coach Jim Calhoun was diagnosed with his third bout with cancer, and are now facing questions about alleged recruiting violations.
UConn cut an 11-point deficit to four in 49 seconds, getting within three with a minute to go. But the outcome was never really in doubt. Durrell Summers, a Detroit native who experienced firsthand the hardships his city and state are enduring when both parents were laid off, converted a three-point play to put the game out of reach.
Flashbulbs popped throughout the arena as the final seconds ticked down. After huddling at midcourt, the Spartans walked to the edge of the floor and saluted the Final Four-record crowd of 72,456, about two-thirds of which was pulling for Michigan State.
“It was a memorable game that I won’t forget,” Izzo said. “Except we’ve got another one.”
The UConn players walked slowly off the court, looking shell-shocked that their season had ended. Thabeet left with a towel draped over his face.
This was supposed to be a battle of big men.
UConn’s Thabeet had been a one-man swat team, averaging a double-double and winning defensive player of the year in the burly Big East for a second straight year. Michigan State’s Goran Suton led the equally gritty Big Ten in rebounding and had averaged a double-double in the NCAA tournament.
But the matchup never developed.
The Spartans are veterans of the down-and-dirty Big Ten, but they can run some, too, and Izzo made no secret of his plan to use their speed to keep Thabeet out of his comfort zone.
Thabeet led the Huskies with 17 points and six rebounds, but it was a quiet effort. He looked gassed from the opening tipoff, leaning over, tugging on his shorts and gasping for air not even 6 minutes into the game.
Stanley Robinson and A.J. Price scored 15 each for Connecticut.
Michigan St. 82, Connecticut 73
Michigan St. (31-6)—Roe 2-4 0-0 4, Lucas 7-15 4-6 21, Morgan 7-13 4-6 18, Walton 1-6 0-0 2, Suton 2-5 0-0 4, Lucious 3-8 3-3 11, Gray 1-2 0-0 2, Summers 4-9 1-1 10, Allen 1-6 0-0 2, Ibok 0-0 0-0 0, Green 3-4 2-4 8. Totals 31-72 14-20 82.
Connecticut (31-5)—Austrie 2-4 2-2 6, Adrien 5-10 3-7 13, Robinson 5-6 4-4 15, Price 5-20 4-4 15, Thabeet 6-13 5-7 17, Walker 1-5 3-9 5, Beverly 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-59 21-33 73.
Halftime—Michigan St. 38-36. 3-Point Goals—Michigan St. 6-19 (Lucas 3-6, Lucious 2-5, Summers 1-5, Suton 0-1, Allen 0-2), Connecticut 2-6 (Robinson 1-1, Price 1-3, Austrie 0-2). Fouled Out—Green. Rebounds—Michigan St. 42 (Morgan 9), Connecticut 42 (Robinson 13). Assists—Michigan St. 18 (Walton 8), Connecticut 8 (Austrie, Walker 2). Total Fouls—Michigan St. 25, Connecticut 18. A—72,456.