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NCAA Tournament Recap (Kentucky-Michigan St)
Posted: Sun March 21, 1999 at 9:52 p.m. EST ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Michigan State overcame a horrendous start to reach the Final Four for the first time in 20 years, ousting defending NCAA Tournament champion Kentucky with a 73-66 victory in the Midwest Region final. Staggered and nearly knocked out of the TWA Dome after falling behind 17-4 in the first 7:04, the Spartans (33-4) received a blistering lecture from senior forward Antonio Smith at the 12-minute TV timeout and clutch play from their top two reserves, forwards A.J. Granger and Morris Peterson, as they clawed within 36-35 by halftime. Michigan State maintained that balance in the second half as four different players -- Granger, Peterson, point guard Mateen Cleaves and Andre Hutson -- all had baskets in a decisive 9-0 run that provided a 60-54 lead with 4:56 remaining. The victory sent the Spartans to St. Petersburg, Florida, opposite East Region champion Duke in the second national semifinal Saturday. Magic Johnson, in attendance for both regional victories, led Michigan State to the NCAA Tournament title in 1979, the last time the Spartans reached the Final Four. Their other appearance came in 1957. "I think we beat one of the best teams we played all year," said Spartans coach Tom Izzo. "To win a game like that against a program like Kentucky. ... I look at our team this year and bouncing back from a 17-4 deficit, and to do that against a team like that showed the character we have." Peterson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Granger and Hutson added 14 points apiece. Cleaves finished with 10 points and 11 assists as Michigan State became the third top seed to reach the Final Four this season. Kentucky's Heshimu Evans scored all 12 of his points in the first half but was a non-factor the final 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Tayshaun Prince added 12 off the bench and Scott Padgett 11 in his final collegiate game for Kentucky (28-9), which was denied its fourth straight Final Four appearance and 14th overall. The Wildcats, who won the 1996 and 1998 titles around an overtime loss to Arizona in the 1997 championship, lost for only the second time in their last 22 NCAA Tournament games. "We had total intentions of winning the national championship," said Padgett. "When they needed big plays, they made big plays." "Our intentions were to make it to the Final Four," echoed Wayne Turner, who missed the Final Four for the first time in his collegiate career. "We knew as the road went on, it would get tougher. I'm not going to hang my head because we lost to a good Michigan State team." Evans ran wild in the opening minutes, hitting three shots as the Wildcats bolted to a 9-2 lead with 15:57 to go. It did not seem to get any better for the Spartans as Kentucky's second team entered and extended the lead to 17-4 when Ryan Hogan followed his own miss with 12:56 remaining. Michigan State missed 11 of its first 13 shots, but a jumper by Thomas Kelley made it 17-6 heading into the TV timeout. Smith, one of Izzo's first recruits at Michigan State, then took over the huddle, screaming at his teammates to start attacking the Wildcats instead of playing without aggression. "I really just told them we played passively, we weren't playing defense," said Smith. "We had played harder in practice and I told them to attack Kentucky." Cleaves and Izzo had different interpretations of Smith's words. "He got everybody facing the huddle and told guys they weren't playing hard," said Cleaves. "Antonio was our emotional leader in the huddle. The guys started stepping up." "When 'Tone went off, I enjoyed that," said Izzo. "I sat back. (But) I felt early we had good shots and didn't make them. We're not that great an offensive team. But we got A.J. looks and he hit them." Michigan State began to regroup offensively as Granger hit a pair of 3-pointers. The Wildcats still had the Spartans on the ropes as Padgett hit two free throws to make it 26-14 with 8:49 to go. Hutson and Peterson combined for all the points in a 9-0 run and Michigan State closed to 26-23 on Hutson's three-point play with 5:35 remaining. Cleaves, who was 1-of-5 from the field in the first half, then hit a huge 26-footer right before halftime as Michigan State closed within 36-35. The Spartans shot 46 percent (13-of-28) from the field, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. "For once, we were the team that got excited about the big start," said Padgett. "They kept their poise and didn't try to get it all back right away." "I think so," said Izzo when asked if he thought the game would have gotten out of hand if Kentucky had a few more baskets. "There's only so much you can do, playing against the aura of Kentucky. You don't play the jersey, but it's so hard. If we got down a couple of more baskets, I don't know... but it's not unchartered territory, we were down that road before." The Spartans took their first lead of the game at 43-42 on a jumper by Cleaves with 15:47 to play. Kentucky regrouped to take a 52-48 lead with 10:06 remaining on two free throws by Jamaal Magloire. A jumper by Desmond Allison made it 54-51 before Michigan State took control. Granger made an 18-footer before Hutson had a transition layup to give the Spartans a 55-54 lead with 7:30 remaining. Kentucky had two turnovers, and Padgett missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before Cleaves buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead to four. Turner blew past Cleaves and had an easy lay-in, but it rolled off the rim. Allison got to the rebound, but his tip-in hung agonizingly on the rim before falling off. Peterson capped the run with a 20-footer, giving the Spartans a 60-54 lead with 4:58 left. "Scott got ready to set the screen-and-roll, but Mateen went under and I faked and went baseline," Turner said of the blown layup. "I put it up there and it rolled in and out. If I could go back there, I'd use the backboard. It just didn't fall in for us." A lay-in by Hutson made it 67-60 with 42 seconds left, but Padgett gave Kentucky one last chance by hitting 3-pointers around two free throws by Peterson to make it 69-66 with 19 seconds to play. Peterson answered the challenge again, hitting two free throws to seal the victory. He made two more with five seconds remaining to complete the scoring. "I wasn't nervous, coach just told me to make free throws," said Peterson. "It shows our heart that we came together as a team. It was a total team effort tonight. I tip my hat to A.J. Granger. He came in and hit some big shots for us. I give all the credit to him." "We tried to get back a few times, a few different situations," said Wildcats coach Tubby Smith, who lost for the first time in 10 NCAA Tournament games as Kentucky coach. "We were trying to get the ball to the guards, but they made all the right moves. They're a hard-nosed team who is hard to defend." The Spartans outrebounded Kentucky 22-10 in the second half and 33-29 for the game. Michigan State shot 49 percent (26-of-53) from the field and 7-of-17 from 3-point range, and Cleaves had only three turnovers in 37 minutes. Kentucky made only 9-of-24 shots in the second half and made 45 percent (24-of-53) overall. Turner had eight assists but only five points on 2-of-8 shooting. Magloire had nine points off the bench, and the Wildcats' reserves accounted for 27.© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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