SAN ANTONIO -- The greatest Michigan State basketball player of them all, one Earvin "Magic" Johnson, sat about 10 rows behind the Spartans bench Friday night as Michigan State took on Maryland in a South Regional semifinal.
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| Paul Davis goes up for what turns out to be the game-winner.(AP) |
They do have some magic, though, even if it's not that Magic.
Friday night, it came in the form of a freshman by the name of Paul Davis. He scored the last six points of the Spartans' 60-58 victory over the defending national champions to allow Michigan State to advance to Sunday's Regional final against top-seeded Texas. Davis got the game-winner on a driving lay-in with 4.7 seconds left.
Maryland had a chance for the win, but Steve Blake's 3-point attempt rimmed off the back iron, setting off a jubilant celebration in the Michigan State section of the Alamodome. Included among those dancers were Johnson, fellow NBA players Kevin Willis and Steve Smith, also ex-Spartans, and former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote.
Johnson, Smith and Willis all talked to the Spartans before the game. All three are known as tough players, which certainly is the way of this Michigan State team. Willis probably told the players to sharpen their elbows, since he is a known NBA enforcer.
For a half, the Spartans did just that. They roughed up the Terps and seemed on their way to an easy victory.
"The first half of the game was very physical," said Maryland coach Gary Williams. "We didn't do a great job of getting the ball inside."
Trailing by 14 in the second half, Williams switched to a three-guard offense and turned up the press. The result was Maryland was able to wipe out a 14-point second-half lead with a 15-0 run to go ahead 55-54 with 3:39 left in the game. Maryland looked as if it had seven players on the court with the ability to get hands on the ball.
Johnson would have had trouble breaking this press. OK, maybe not.
"They smelled blood and went after it," said Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
Using a three-guard unit of Blake, Drew Nicholas and John Gilchrist, the Terps (20-10) were able to force the Spartans into turnovers, which they turned into points. Michigan State, which had dominated until the 15-0 run, played tentatively from there on out, with players hesitant to make plays. No one seemed to want to take the shot.
Maryland scored 25 points off turnovers to help the Terps get back into the game when they looked dead and done. The Terps led 58-56 with 1:32 left after a free throw by Tahj Holden. That's when Davis became a madman.
The 2002 Michigan Mr. Basketball first scored on a monster dunk off a feed that tied the game and then after Maryland's Jamar Smith missed a short runner, the Spartans called timeout to set up a play.
It wasn't a play set up to go to Davis. But after several seconds of trying to create something, Davis ended up with the ball on the right baseline.
"I was a decoy over there," Davis said. "But Alan (Anderson) drove the middle and kicked it to me. I knew there were a couple of seconds left, so I knew I had to make something happen."
When Blake's last shot rimmed out, the Spartans were into the Elite Eight. At 22-12, they have more losses than any of the eight teams left. At one point this season, they were 14-11. They opened the Big Ten schedule 0-3 and 1-4.
Somehow Izzo has found a way to bring this young team together. As usual, he did it with defense. Izzo pounds defense into his players, and it took some time for his young team to believe it and start playing it.
The first half Friday night is proof they got the message. They limited a normally high-scoring Maryland team to 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the first half as the Spartans took a 29-24 lead into the locker room.
"I thought we played awfully, awfully well for 32 minutes," Izzo said. "About as well as we can play."
And then it came apart, saved by a six-point spurt by a freshman that is loaded with skills. At 6-foot-11, he has a chance to be something special. Certainly not Magic special, but who is?
These Spartans don't have that, but like those Magic teams they get by with an in-your-face defensive mentality. They need that and more against the Texas Longhorns on Sunday.
A week ago, they beat second-seeded Florida in Tampa. So beating Texas in its state is possible. If they do, the Spartans will be the surprise entry in the Final Four, the lowest seed left in the tournament.
Magic indeed.
