CLEVELAND -- The critics haven't let it go.

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His jump shot is flat, and sometimes awkward. He has had problems off the basketball court that sometimes question his commitment to success in life.

But if you ask Alex Jensen, senior forward at Utah, there isn't much doubt about the future of Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves.

"He does so much," Jensen said. "Tonight, he showed why he's an All-American. In the second half, he wasn't afraid to take the big shots and you want to have a guy who wants the ball in pressure situations. He reminds me of when we had Andre Miller."

Maybe Cleaves won't have the kind of rookie year Miller has had with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season in the NBA, but don't count it out either. Saturday, Cleaves proved he is at the heart of Michigan State's No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional and the Spartans' 73-61 win. The victory moves them into the regional final at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Thursday against Syracuse.

Trailing nearly the entire first half, and staring at a six-point deficit 2½ minutes into the second half, the Utes moved over and let Cleaves take over. The 6-foot-2 senior fed Andre Hutson for a layup with a brilliant bounce pass out of a double team and followed that with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. And after a pair of turnovers by Utah, and a timeout, Cleaves split a pair of Utah sequoias with a double-clutch drive that gave the Spartans their first lead of the second half.

When the dust cleared seven minutes later, it was a 10-minute run in which the Spartans outscored the Utes 27-7 and held a commanding 64-50 lead. Utah got the lead under double figures only once more the rest of the night.

"When you're a senior, there's a sense of urgency," said Cleaves, who led all scorers with 21 points and five assists. "It could have been my last game in the (Michigan State) green and white uniform and I wasn't ready to face that issue. If we were gonna lose, we were gonna lose with me being aggressive."

From the start, it was a little awkward for the Spartans (28-7) against the much taller Utes (23-9). With big rangy players like Hanno Mottola, Alex Jensen and Phil Cullen playing outside as well as inside, it threw off the defensive rhythm of Michigan State from the beginning.

Coach Tom Izzo conceded that maybe he didn't explain how to handle the Utes' high-post offense as well as he should have. On the other hand, he also was certain that leading scorer Morris Peterson hadn't responded well to Utah's defensive pressure. Peterson did finish with 13 points and Hutson's 19 ultimately helped. But neither Izzo nor Cleaves were happy at all going into the locker room trailing 35-32.

"At halftime, Coach got on us about playing our game," Peterson said. "I wasn't running the wings like I should. Then I got an offensive rebound (early in the second half), Mateen grabbed my shorts, got in my face and said, 'Morris, that's what I'm talking about.' It sounded like a demon came out of him."

And it scared the stuffing out of Utah.

After sinking a sizzling 17 of their first 27 shots in the game, the Utes finished up making just 7 of 19. Once he snatched the game by its throat, the rhythm changed to Cleaves-control. Dancing in and out of traffic, driving, pulling up ... it changed the entire floor spacing and Utah never got back into the game.

"Cleaves stung us tonight," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "We picked our poison and wanted Cleaves to shoot the ball. He did and he beat us. We fought to the end and we lost to the team that I believe will win it all."

Mateen Cleaves' leadership is what makes Michigan State roll, and they're rolling into the Sweet 16. (AP)

The other three times Michigan State trailed at halftime this season ... to Indiana, Ohio State and Arizona, the Spartans lost. That wasn't going to happen this time around.

"We did challenge our guys," Izzo said. "We gave up a lot of open shots in the first half, something we haven't done much this year. In our league, we are not used to guarding 6-11 guys on the perimeter, so they created problems. Mateen does not get down, and when he gets mad, it makes him a better player. So he is easy to challenge. Pushing the ball was the big key."

It's that Cleaves-control factor. He has that same defensive intensity as All-NBA guard Gary Payton, albeit Cleaves is smaller. Payton, too, was criticized for his inability to shoot the basketball early in his career.

Regardless, he doesn't figure to have silenced the critics despite his ability to just flat out win games.

"I doubt it," Cleaves said. "They'll say I had one of those hot games. I don't try to silence critics. I'm here to help my team win games. I'm gonna take open shots. If I make them, great. If I miss, I'm gonna get back on defense.

"This is all about winning."

Hmmm, sounds like another Michigan State point guard whose only concern was winning and people didn't think much of his shooting either. His last name is Johnson, the first name Earvin, unless you liked to call him Magic.

So if you're not similarly impressed with Cleaves, you're just not watching as the Spartans enter the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year with a season-high seven-game winning streak intact. Anybody can make a jump shot, but how many players truly know how to win?.

Shots from the perimeter

• The Spartans are 8-1 on neutral courts this year, although playing at the Palace next week will certainly be a neutral floor with home-cooking.
• Izzo's record is 8-2 in the NCAA Tournament, while the Spartans are 25-13 all time.
• This was the first win for Michigan State in five meetings with Utah.
• The Utes now are 16-8 in the tournament with Majerus as coach.
• Bench play? The starters of the two teams accounted for 126 of the 134 points in the game.