Sunday, March 29, 2009

Michigan State crushes overall No. 1 Louisville in NCAA Tournament

Pictured: Michigan State's Delvon Roe (l.) and Summers celebrate during win over Louisville

Written by: NYDailyNews.com

Michigan State beat the top-seeded University of Louisville Cardinals 64-52 to reach the Final Four of the men's college basketball tournament.

Goran Suton had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State, which trailed 34-32 in the second half before going on a 20-7 scoring run at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The Spartans were the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional behind Louisville, which was the top overall seed in the 65-team National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

"I take my hat off to my players," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said in a televised interview with CBS Sports. "They prepared so well the past day and a half. That was a great Louisville team. I didn't know if we could beat them, but I thought we had a chance." Michigan State (30-6) joins the University of Connecticut and Villanova at the national semifinals in Detroit and prevents the Big East Conference from having three schools in the Final Four. The last spot will be filled today as the University of North Carolina plays Oklahoma in the South Region final.

Michigan State is in the Final Four for the fifth time in the past 11 years, the most of any school in the nation over that span. The Spartans, whose last championship came in 2000, will next play Connecticut on April 4 at Ford Field. The national championship game is scheduled for April 6.

Louisville (31-6) had a 13-game winning streak snapped and becomes the second No. 1 seed to lose in this season's tournament. Third-seeded Villanova upset Pittsburgh 78-76 in last night's East Regional final.

Just two days after shooting almost 58 percent from the field in a 103-64 rout of Arizona, the Cardinals were held to 38 percent shooting by Michigan State. Earl Clark scored 18 points to lead Louisville, which shot 55.6 percent from the free throw line after hitting 93 percent against Arizona.

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