10B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN
NCAA
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2009
Michigan State Spartans feel at home in Final Four
Team will play at Ford Field in Detroit for fifth Final Four in 11 years
BY MICHAEL MAROT
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Even before Michigan State's first game of the season, coach Tom Izzo gathered his players and spelled out their goal.
"Ford Field," he wrote on a dry erase board.
That part of the Motown mission is now complete.
The Spartans gave the Final Four a hometown feel, stopping overall No.1 seed Louisville 64-52 Sunday to win the Midwest Regional.
Goran Suton had 19 points and
10 rebounds as the second-seeded Spartans (30-6) played the pace game to perfection and reached their fifth Final Four in 11 years — the most trips of any team in the nation during that span.
Only 90 miles from
Only 30 miles from their campus in East Lansing, the Spartans will play Connecticut on Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit. A crowd of 72,000, the largest ever for college basketball's signature event, is expected for each game.
"Detroit, here we come," said Izzo, a Michigan native. "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that."
"I'm just hoping we're a silver lining in what's been kind of a cloudy year for us."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo raises the trophy after a 64-52 victory against Louisville in the NCAA Midwest Regional men's college basketball tournament final Sunday in Indianapolis. Michigan State advances to the Final Four in Detroit.
Michael Conrov/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Spartans made it 30 years after Magic Johnson led them to a national title over Larry Bird and Indiana State.
"Detroit needs something, Michigan needs something to feel good about," said Johnson, who was at the game. "And right now, the whole state is feeling good about this Michigan State team."
Michigan has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates and Detroit's economy, which is heavily reliant on the failing auto-making industry, has been reeling. The
Along with advancing, the Spartans prevented a Big East blitz in the Final Four — coach Rick Pitino and Louisville (31-6) were trying to become the third school from the power-packed conference to make it.
Next week's short trip will be a special treat for many Spartans — eight Michigan residents are on the roster.
TOMIZZO
Michigan State coach
defense was more physical and we couldn't turn them over like we wanted to."
"They were the better team," Louisville's Terrence Williams said. "They were quicker than us, their
Durrell Surmers, who delivered 10 second-half points, grew up in Detroit. Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, was raised 10 minutes from the giant stadium.
team is certainly aware of the state's plight.
"I'm just hoping we're a silver hling in what's been kind of a cloudy year for us." Izzo said. "I'm hoping that we're the sunshine, I'm hoping we're something to embrace."
After traveling to Indianapolis, Minneapolis and back to Indianapolis the last three weekends, the Spartans showed their zeal at the end.
Exuberant players were hugging with more than a minute to go, and as the buzer sounded, Isaiah Dahlman tossed the ball high into
the air as players and coaches jumped for joy then took part in a group bug just in front of the bench.
The game went nothing like louisville expected.
Its vaunted
thanks to Earl Clark's 3-pointer with 12 seconds left. Louisville scored 51 points against Connecticut on Feb. 2.
pressure defense produced no fast-break points. After committing nine turnovers in Friday's 39-point rout over Arizona, the Cardinals matched that total in 18 minutes Sunday. They opened the game on a scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes.
The biggest problem was Michigan State's aggressive man-to-man defense, which kept Louisville out of sync all day.
And two days after scoring 103 points, they barely avoided setting a new a season-low point total
"I think that was our biggest problem, the fact that the last six, seven games we probably have had 90 percent zones," Pitino said. "We got very good at going against zones, but that man-to-man gave us trouble tonight because our inside attack wasn't there."
The combination sent Louisville to its second straight regional final loss and marked the third straight year Pitino's team was eliminated on the second day of a weekend.
But Pitino didn't blame this one on fatigue.
Instead, he credited Michigan State for playing a physical, deliberate style that finally broke the Cardinals — just as Izzo choreographed it.
"The game plan was beautiful. The guys executed the game plan to perfection," Johnson said. "The key to the game was going to be the pace of the game and our defense. We got the pace and we played great defense and that was the key."
The Cardinals never figured it out, and rever managed to produce one of those trademark scoring
"The game plan was beautiful. The guys executed the game plan to perfection.
MAGIC JOHNSON
Former NBA and
Michigan State player
runs.
Clarkled Louisville with 19 points, but the only other player to reach double figures was backup guard Preston Knowles, who had all 11 points in the first half. Williams finished with five
points, six rebounds and four assists.
Just about everything went the Spartans' way.
Although Lousvilletrailed 30-27 at the hall, Williams acknowledged the sluggish start affected the Cardinals' second-half performance.
They did manage to take a 34-32 lead with 15.3:3 to go, but then the
Spartans took control.
With Suton on the bench, Michigan State went on a 9-2 run to rebuild a 41-36 lead. Then Summers got going. He hit a long jumper, just inside the 3-point line, followed that with a 3 and ended
the 17-7 spurt with another three to give Michigan State an insurmountable 58-43 lead with 5:50 to go.
Louisville had only one more basket the rest of the way, finishing this part of Michigan State's drive
to the Final Four.
"It's as big a win as our school has had because we're going to Detroit, and that's been a dream and a goal since they announced where the Final Four was in 2009," Izzo said.
MLB
Kauffman Stadium now more ADA compliant
1000 Massachusetts St · (785) 832-0806
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Kansas City Royals have their home opener at Kauffman Stadium April 10, disabled fans will find a lot has changed.
The Royals and HOK Sport, the architects in charge of a $250 million overhaul of the stadium, has worked with a special advisory group to make the stadium more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which didn't exist when Kauffman first opened.
PEORIA, Ariz. — Mike Aviles hit .325 as a rookie and was selected the Kansas City Royals player of the year, while batting primary leadoff or second.
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But this season,Aviles could find himself dropping to the bottom of the lineup and batting ninth.
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If Mark Teahen wins the second base job — and he has emerged as the front runner with a .500 batting average over Alberto Callaspo and Willie Bloomquist — he would likely bat third, with Coco Crisp and David DeJesus filling the first two slots. In that scenario, Aviles would likely bat at the bottom of the order.
"If we have Mike Aviles able to hit ninth, it is not necessarily a demotion, but an appreciation of his abilities," Royals manager Trey Hillman said Sunday. "If it does fall that way, I think we would have more of a difficult lineup to pitch to."
Associated Press
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