NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 2, 2015, 4:50 PM
Elsa/Getty ImagesMichigan State’s Matt Costello (l.) and Travis Trice celebrate defeating Louisville in overtime to advance to the Final Four.
INDIANAPOLIS – One of these things is not like the others.
In name, all the entries – Wisconsin, Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State – sound right in a Final Four. And most of the resumes do too. Kentucky is 38-0 and pursuing the first perfect season since Indiana in 1976, has nine McDonald’s All-Americans and five likely first-round NBA draft picks. Wisconsin has the most efficient offense in the country and a pair of first-round picks. Duke has nine McDonald’s All-Americans of its own, is one of only four teams in the country that made more than half its shots and has coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose been to 12 Final Fours and won four national championships.
Those three are all No. 1 seeds.
And then there’s Michigan State – the interloper, even if it doesn’t sound like one.
At 24-11, the Spartans have four more losses than the other three teams combined. They were an NCAA Tournament bubble team when March began and with a strong run to the Big Ten Tournament title game, managed a No. 7 seeding. The level of the Spartans’ play improved every weekend as they took out No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Louisville to get here. They don’t have a single player who projects to get drafted.
And they know it.
“These are four elite programs. The other three teams here are No. 1 seeds. They definitely have more McDonald’s All-Americans, more star power than we do,” State guard Travis Trice said. “At the same time, I feel that’s kind of what drove us to get here – ‘us against the world’ mentality. That’s helped us get through the season.”
“Talent is a funny thing. Talent doesn’t always win games. Talent doesn’t always make you great,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “It gives you maybe a better opportunity if you utilize your talent, if you are coachable, a good teammate. This isn’t boxing. It’s not tennis. It’s not golf.”
The Spartans face Duke (33-4) in the first national semifinal on Saturday at 6:09 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kentucky gets Wisconsin (35-3) in the other semifinal. Duke beat Michigan State 81-71 in the Champions Classic.
Elsa/Getty ImagesMSU coach Tom Izzo.
Trice described the MSU season as “up-and-down.” Four of their losses were in overtime. They used 10 different starting lineups, sometimes because of injuries and sometimes because of performance. The senior believes that going through that actually helped in the end. Since March, the only team that’s beaten Sparty is Wisconsin.
“Adversity is what has gotten our team to this point,” he said. “Midway through the year, we were on the bubble. People questioned whether we were going to get into the tournament. Because of that, we’ve banded together. I think we’re just peaking at the right time.”
Duke should test just how far Michigan State’s mentality and camaraderie can go against talent. The Blue Devils’ celebrated freshman trio of center Jahlil Okafor, forward Justise Winslow and guard Tyus Jones has played some of its best basketball in the tournament alongside the guiding force of senior guard Quinn Cook.
Unlike the Wisconsin-Kentucky game, a rematch of a national semifinal last year, the State-Duke matchup has no players who have been in a Final Four.
“I’m like a kid in a candy store here, it being my first time,” Cook said. “I’ve had two early exits in the first rounds, losing to Louisville in the Elite 8 (and) seeing those guys cut the nets down, celebrate, remembering that. . . I think those guys are having fun as much as I am. It was one of our goals to get here.”
Winslow, in particular, has emerged during this tournament. In the Midwest Regional title game win over Gonzaga, after the Devils’ lead was cut to two points late, he scored seven straight points and had a pair of critical rebounds to help file the win away. Krzyzewski said “certainly in this tournament, he’s been one of the key guys for us.”
“I think when you look at a guy that’s improved just about all his stats: free-throw shooting, he’s improved enormously, rebounding he’s improved by almost three a game in this tournament,” Izzo said.
“(Krzyzewski) has good players at positions. But, you know, I don’t think sometimes we get enough credit for (Denzel) Valentine, Trice and Branden Dawson. Those three players are good players that could play on a lot of teams, too.”
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Michigan St. isn't No. 1, but improving on way to Final Four - New York Daily News
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