Tampa subregional

Five-minute stretch gives control to Michigan State

TAMPA -- Michigan State made the game's decisive move over a five-minute stretch just past the midway point of the first half in its 79-64 win over Colorado. MSU boosted the lead from three to 13 in that span, and the margin stayed in double digits.

With the Spartans ahead 23-20, a savvy play from Slovenian freshman Erazem Lorbek got things going. After missing badly on a baseline drive, Lorbek turned to head up court, then anticipated the outlet pass and wheeled around blindly to intercept it. MSU missed its next shot, but Lorbek grabbed the rebound, setting up a basket from Alan Anderson to make it 25-20 with 9:04 to go.

It sparked the Spartans. One minute later, explosive MSU guard Kelvin Torbert drove the right baseline uncontested for a dunk, expanding the lead to seven at the eight-minute television timeout.

After the timeout, the Spartans took control with a barrage of 3-pointers. Reserve senior forward Adam Ballinger made the first to push the lead to 30-20. CU's Chris Copeland made a 3, but Maurice Ager and Chris Hill (15 points, 4 of 9 3-pointers) connected on two rapid-fire 3-pointers and Michigan State led 36-23 with five minutes until halftime.

CU trimmed the lead to 10 a few moments later, but MSU pushed it to 44-29 at halftime, and the Spartans essentially clinched the game with a 9-4 burst out of the locker room, capped by another Hill 3-pointer, to make it 53-33.

Besides its unusually sharp 3-point shooting (7-of-13, 53.8 percent), the other key to Michigan State's crunch-time breakout was the fastbreak. The normally plodding Spartans pushed the ball up the court and frequently caught Colorado's defense before it could set up. The Spartans got several open looks in this manner, and their shooters made them.

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