Spartans find room to run

After being force-fed a steady diet of grinder-type Big Ten Conference opponents throughout most of the regular season, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State University Spartans arrived in the Inland Northwest earlier this week rarin’ to run.

And what they stumbled upon in Friday’s opening round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena was an opponent that was willing to run with them – every step of the way.

Which made for one wildly entertaining matchup, in which fifth-seeded MSU frittered away a 13-point halftime lead but hung on to dispose of 12th-seeded New Mexico State 70-67 in front of an evening session crowd of 10,851 that seemed to enjoy everything but the final 18 seconds of the game.

It was in those finals ticks of the clock that a rare lane violation call on NMSU negated any chance the underdog Aggies (22-12) might have had to win the game on a late 3-pointer. And the crowd responded by booing the official who made the call against NMSU’s Troy Gillenwater off the court.

The controversial whistle sounded with Michigan State leading 69-67 after Raymar Morgan made the first of two free throws. His second attempt bounced off the rim to Gillenwater, but the official under the basket called the 6-foot-8 sophomore for a lane violation.

Morgan went on to capitalize on his foul-line mulligan, putting the Spartans up 70-67. And the Aggies, despite getting a good look from 3-point range for Jonathan Gibson and another desperation heave from Hernst Laroche just before the final buzzer, came up empty in the final seconds.

Still, New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies had nothing but praise for his team, which matched the physical Spartans elbow for elbow and seemed to thrive on the fast pace that resulted in end-to-end action.

“I’m extremely proud of my team,” Menzies said, “extremely proud of their fight, their courage and their passion for the game.”

MSU coach Tom Izzo also complimented the Aggies for the character they showed in coming all the way from from a 42-39 halftime deficit to take a couple of late leads before finally succumbing.

“Give them credit that second half,” he said. “They bounced back and put some pressure on us.”

A big part of NMSU’s comeback seemed to be its switch to man-to-man defense after intermission. Prior to that, MSU had been picking apart the Aggies’ zone with the outside shooting of Kalin Lucas, who finished with a game-high 25 points, and Durrell Summers, who added 14.

“We go to man, pressure the ball full court, deny passes and make them play our speed,” Gibson said. “And it worked, for the most part.”

Gillenwater, who did not start, posted a 17-point, 11-rebound effort for the Aggies, who also got 16 points from Gibson and battled the Spartans to a 40-40 draw on the boards.