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Cleaves can't pull Spartans through

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Posted: Sunday March 28, 1999 01:24 AM

William Avery and the Blue Devils held Mateen Cleaves to two points over the final 14 1/2 minutes of the game. AP

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Michigan State fell behind once too often and even Mateen Cleaves couldn't bail out the Spartans.

Michigan State, which had lived on the edge all season, fell behind top-ranked Duke by 12 points at halftime and the Blue Devils went on to a 68-62 victory in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal Saturday night.

The Blue Devils (37-1) will meet Connecticut for the NCAA title Monday night.

Cleaves, Michigan State's charismatic leader, had carried the Spartans (33-5) on his shoulders all season. This time, he couldn't get it done.

Down the stretch, Cleaves turned the ball over twice and missed four of five shots -- three from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points and, except for a tip-in with 17.6 seconds remaining, was silent over the final 14 1/2 minutes of the game.

As Michigan State ran off 22 straight victories, Cleaves had always been able to get the Spartans out of jams. But none of the Spartans was able to handle Duke forward Elton Brand, the college player of the year.

Brand, a 6-foot-8, 260-pounder, backed in, dove and soared on the way to 18 points and 15 rebounds against the gritty but overmatched Spartans, who also lost to Duke in the Great Eight in December.

The Spartans, making their first Final Four appearance since Magic Johnson's NCAA title team in 1979, had always been able to overcome long spells of ugly play. But not this time, not against Duke.

With Johnson watching from the stands, the Spartans made just 9-of-31 shots and trailed 32-20 at halftime. They went scoreless in the final 5:13 of the half and their leading scorer was Andre Hutson with five points.

Still, there was hope.

The Spartans' offense frequently shuts down for minutes at a time. They needed seven free throws over the final 44 seconds to hold off Oklahoma 54-46 to advance to the Elite Eight. They fell behind Kentucky 17-4 but Morris Peterson, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, hit six straight free throws in the final 29 seconds of a 73-66 comeback victory in the Midwest Regional final.

 

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