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Something like this: "Hey, Mateen, why not try making some shots?"

Having missed all six of his shots in the first half, helping put the Spartans in real danger of losing to Syracuse on Thursday night, the "Flintstones," from nearby Flint, Mich., looked as if they needed a halftime visit from the cartoon's magical character Kazoo.

Instead, they heard a familiar voice with the volume turned up.

"It wasn't in anybody's face," guard Charlie Bell said, contrary to Cleaves' description of halftime. "Everybody came in real quiet and sat down, and he came in and yelled at the top of his lungs that we had to play harder. He said, 'Guys, let's go. We're playing awful out there. They're taking the fight to us.'"

Consider that the family version. Perhaps more important than the shock value, Cleaves made sure to spread out the blame.

"He said it himself, that he wasn't playing well," Bell said. "We all had to pick it up."

They did, reasserting their position as the team most likely to win the national title. Near-death experiences always help, if one can describe a 75-58 victory in the regional semifinals that way. The Spartans were, however, playing close enough to home to hear mom calling for dinner, and they looked bad, trailing by 14 early in the second half.

So full of emotion was Syracuse guard Jason Hart as he walked off the court at halftime, he let out a loud scream followed by an expletive directed to all the Michigan State green in the stands.

But in the end, the Spartans recovered to score the last 17 points of the game. After the score was tied at 58 with 5:55 remaining, this was the tally for Syracuse the rest of the way: zero points, 0-7 shooting from the floor and three turnovers.

"I've been saying these guys are special," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, "and they showed it in the second half."

In another NCAA Tournament setting, the crowd would have gotten behind the underdog. It would have given the Orangemen credit for refusing to flinch after falling behind 11-3. But this was about an hour away from campus and even closer to Flint, hometown of three Michigan State starters, including Cleaves. Businesses around the Palace of Auburn Hills had messages of support for the Spartans on their signs.

It easily could have ended here, though. Cleaves opened the second half with an air ball before Syracuse took its largest lead, 40-26, with 19:01 remaining.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't know I was 0-for-7," said Cleaves, who finished with 10 points and seven assists. "I have a short memory. I always think about the future."

It's a good thing for him. From that point on, Michigan State solved Syracuse's elastic zone defense, penetrating and getting the ball inside before finding the open 3-point shooter. Finally, the shots started falling.

Mateen Cleaves (left) only scored 10 points, but his halftime speech might have been the key to the Spartans' comeback.(AP)

As the momentum turned, the crowd chanted, "Let's Go State!" a thundering chant that really did make it sound like a Michigan State home game. That was missing in the first half. Most often Morris Peterson did the damage, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second half. They weren't all open looks, either.

"After I hit one, I looked at the team and said, 'Keep giving me the ball,'" Peterson said. "I felt like I was hot."

Meanwhile, Syracuse didn't come out of its zone, which surprised Bell.

"We were really starting to shoot the ball," he said. "We were prepared for them to come out of it, but they never did."

Soon, the Orangemen began to wilt.

"You could see it in their faces," Spartans forward A.J. Granger said. "It was a matter of us making shots. They were wondering when we would miss, and it didn't happen."

With only seconds remaining, Michigan State was running out the clock, uncontested by the beaten Syracuse players. Peterson grabbed his jersey and covered his face. Minutes later, there was no hiding his emotions as he just about danced toward the postgame television interview.

"This is not the first time we've been losing, but we always find a way to win," Bell said. "I think that's what makes this team so special. With the character and the heart everybody has, we're going to find a way to win."