Spartans Throw Out Louisville

Michigan State might have entered the Tournament with negative hype, given the rough reputation the bad Big Ten garnered, as well as a dud in the conference tournament championship for the Spartans. Louisville, on the other hand, won the Dance’s top overall seed by sealing off the regular season and conference tournament championships in the incredible Big East. But Tom Izzo is pumping his fist, and Rick Pitino’s punching something. Hrm ...
↵
↵The Spartans blew Louisville out of the gym in the second half, taking away a 12-point victory on their way to Izzo’s fifth Final Four. Tough defense did the trick (as seemingly always), with Louisville shooting 38% on the game. The Cardinals’ defense wasn’t bloody awful, but Michigan State did get enough open threes to stretch it out.
↵
↵The hopes for an all-Big East Final Four died when Oklahoma slaughtered Syracuse Friday, but getting three teams from the conference to Detroit would still have been a huge coup. But there’s still a shot at an all-Big East championship game (as if that matters), as UConn is next up for the Spartans, and Villanova plays the winner of North Carolina-Oklahoma.↵