Michigan State is in the Final Four
Detroit needed the Spartans to be this good.
The Big East may have two teams in the 2009 NCAA Final Four, but it’s Michigan State who will be hosting the party.
The Michigan State Spartans rode by its trademark, defense and rebounding, and threw in some balanced scoring to get to play in a Final Four just 90 miles from campus.
The Spartans capped the four-game run by beating overall no.1 seed Louisville, which was looking to join fellow Big East teams Connecticut and Villanova in the national semifinals.
Eight Spartans scored in double figures over the four games, but it was the steady play inside and sudden offense from Goran Suton allowed the Spartans to reach the Final Four for the fifth time since 1999. They will play the Connecticut Huskies next.
The regional semifinal win over defending national champion Kansas will become the signature win in what is turning out to be Michigan State’s Cinderella run, as the Spartans overcame a 13-point first-half deficit and went 16-of-17 from the free throw line to rally for the win.
Tom Izzo has taken Michigan State to the Final Four four times, winning it all in 2000, with his last appearance in 2005. Every player who has stayed for years under Izzo has reached the Final Four.
Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten’s player of the year, leads the Spartans in scoring and assists, but Goran Suton, who missed six games early in the season with a knee injury, has become the team’s steadying force. The senior center averages 10.1 points and 8.3 rebounds, numbers that grew to 19.5 and 9.5 in the Spartans’ last two wins.
Travis Walton, the conference’s defensive player of the year, is a standout shutdown defender. He was one of the keys in ending Louisville’s 14-game winning streak and holding the Cardinals 23 points below their average.
Michigan State’s first national championship is one of college basketball’s most memorable games as Magic Johnson led the Spartans over Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979. Mateen Cleaves was the leader of the team that won it all in 2000, the middle year of three straight Final Four appearances under Izzo.
Many coaches contend it’s always better to get away during a tournament, but the Spartans will end this one in front of plenty family and friends. And since everything has gone bad in Detroit recently, having the Final Four and the national championship game is nice.
Having their own Spartans still in it is even better.
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Can the Connecticut Huskies beat the Michigan State Spartans and play for the national title? SPORTSBETTING.COM has the odds.
Connecticut Huskies -4.5
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