GamePreview

Travis Walton finished with 12 points and Drew Neitzel
scored 10 for Michigan State (13-4, 0-2), which has
dropped its first two Big Ten games for the second year in a
row.

The Hoosiers, who improved to 8-0 at Assembly Hall this
season, jumped out to an early 12-4 lead following
consecutive baskets by White less than five minutes into
the first half.

Michigan State cut the deficit to 20-19 after a pair of free
throws by Maurice Joseph with eight minutes left, but
Indiana went on an 18-8 run to end the half, taking a 38-27
advantage into the break.

Tom Izzo didn't care that Raymar Morgan was still out with an
injury, or that Drew Neitzel was playing through a lingering flu
bug that had limited his practice time over the past week.
Iowa beat Michigan State 62-60 Thursday in the Big Ten
opener for both teams.

Iowa (9-6, 1-0) has won 10 straight conference games at
home and 26 of its last 27 overall at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Drew Neitzel hit a pair of free throws to bring Michigan State
(13-3, 0-1) within 57-55 with 40 seconds left. The Spartans
(No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, unranked AP) put Mike Henderson
on the free throw line, where he knocked in a pair to push
Iowa's lead back to four.

Goran Suton scored with 29.6 seconds left to make it 59-57.
Neitzel scored 20 to lead Michigan State, which saw its
seven-game winning streak snapped.

Marquise Gray came off the bench to score 16 points and
didn't miss a shot in 26 minutes to lift Michigan State past
Northwestern 66-45 on Wednesday.

Gray was 7-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line for
the Spartans (14-4, 1-2 Big Ten). He scored just 13 points
in Michigan State's losses last week at Iowa and Indiana.

Despite just 1-for-4 shooting in the first half, Drew Neitzel
had 18 points for the Spartans to lead all scorers and reach
double-figures for the 17th game in a row.

Northwestern lost to Michigan State for the 20th straight
time in East Lansing and the 35th time in the past 37
meetings.

Michigan State built a 32-22 halftime lead, thanks largely to
a 21-4 edge in rebounds.

The final rebounding advantage was 37-13, with Drew
Naymick grabbing six boards and four other players
collecting five.

Drew Neitzel scored 19 points and made a key jumper in
the final minute to lift Michigan State to a 63-57 win over
Illinois on Sunday.

The Spartans (15-4, 2-2 Big Ten) have won two straight
Michigan State's Goran Suton had 15 points and Raymar
Morgan scored 10.

Michigan State scored 15 unanswered points to take a
51-39 lead with 7:34 to go. Neitzel made a shot from the left
wing just before the shot clock expired to seal the victory.

Michigan State came back in the second half with
aggressive defense that led to turnovers and easier
baskets at the other end.

The Spartans improved to 13-0 at home and earned their
biggest win during a rebuilding season in which they hope
to earn an NCAA tournament bid for the 10th straight year.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Michigan State is marching on to Motown.
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) reached
their fifth Final Four in 11 years - the most trips of any team in the nation during that span. Only 90 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.
The Spartans made it 30 years after Magic Johnson led them to a national title over Larry Bird and Indiana State.
Along with advancing, the Spartans prevented a Big East blitz in the Final Four - Louisville (31-6) was trying to
become the third school from the power-packed conference to make it. The Cardinals scored 103 points in
overwhelming Arizona in the regional semifinal, but barely reached half that total against a rugged, defensive-minded
squad. Earl Clark scored 19 points, but coach Rick Pitino's team played without the precision or passion it had Friday
night.
Louisville lost for the first time in 14 games. It was the second straight year they were eliminated from the NCAA
tournament in the regional final. Suton carried the Spartans early, scoring 17 points in the first half, and Durrell
Summers delivered 10 second-half points. "They prepared so well the past day and a half," Izzo said. "I didn't know if
we could beat them but I thought we had a chance." It went nothing like Louisville expected.
The Cardinals allowed Michigan State to dictate the pace with their deliberate half-court style, and Louisville's
vaunted pressure defense produced no fastbreak points. Instead, Michigan State relied on its physical style and
finally broke the Cardinals. After going 28 minutes without either team taking more than a three-point lead, the
Cardinals broke down. Louisville came back from a 30-27 halftime deficit to take a 34-32 lead with 15:33 to go.
But the Spartans answered with the first big run of the day, outscoring Louisville 9-2 over a two-minute span for a
41-36 lead. The Spartans were just getting started. Michigan State took advantage of the Cardinals poor free-throw
shooting to go on a 17-7 run that made it 58-43 with 5:50 to go. That forced Louisville to rush its offense into bad
shots, and with Louisville's rebounders out of position, Michigan State dominated. The Cardinals made only one
basket in the last 5:18 and shot just 38.3 percent from the field.