NCAA

Spartans are pumped: opt for practice, no day off

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Any concern that Michigan State might be satisfied with making the NCAA Sweet 16 was quickly eliminated when coach Tom Izzo asked his players whether they would rather take Monday off or practice.

The response was unanimous -- practice -- even though the question came less than 24 hours after the Spartans beat Florida 68-46 in the second round of the South Region in Tampa.

"Coach was thinking it would be a half-go practice," forward Jason Andreas said Tuesday, "but during the layup line, guys were flying in there dunking. KT (Kelvin Torbert) was in there doing windmill dunks. Even Chris Hill dunked. I think Coach saw how excited we were to be one of 16 teams still left in the tournament.

"A lot of teams might take that day off to enjoy the win, but two weeks from now we can rest all we want," Andreas said.

Beating 10th-seeded Colorado and second-seeded Florida last weekend only made the Spartans hungry for more -- specifically a fourth Final Four appearance in five years.

After the convincing victories at Tampa, the players think anything is possible. They need two more victories to reach the Final Four, starting with Friday's game against Maryland in the South semifinals at San Antonio.

"We made it to San Antonio," Andreas said, "so why not win a few more and get to New Orleans? Once we get to New Orleans, why not win the national championship?"

Before the NCAA tournament began, the Spartans were hardly that confident. For most of the season, they weren't consistent. And while they might have believed in their ability, they weren't always sure when that ability would show up.

"Whether or not we were going to play well was the question," Hill said. "But after seeing we are capable of playing well enough to get there, that's no longer a question. It's just a matter of duplicating the effort."

Sixth-seeded Maryland, the defending national champion, will be a tougher test in some ways than the last two opponents. Few teams are as experienced as the Terrapins, who are seeking their third consecutive Final Four appearance.

BARNES' BIG CHANCE: Rick Barnes will be the only coach at the Alamodome this weekend who hasn't won a national championship.

Not that he's worried.

Besides, the Texas coach has beaten Gary Williams, Tom Izzo and Jim Calhoun at various stops in his career. Only now the stakes are a lot higher.

"We're on center stage," he said.

Of the 16 teams still playing in the NCAA Tournament, several have coaches whose names are synonymous with success: Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Arizona's Lute Olson and Kansas' Roy Williams to name a few.

But with four wins in the next two weeks, several other coaches could build reputations that would last a lifetime -- Barnes, Notre Dame's Mike Brey and Butler's Todd Lickliter are among them.

Barnes is a veteran of 16 seasons with successful stops at Providence, Clemson and now at Texas, where the Longhorns earned a berth in the round of 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. They are the No. 1 seed in the South Region.

Texas plays Connecticut Friday night at San Antonio, followed by Maryland against Michigan State.

Connecticut's Calhoun (1999), Michigan State's Izzo (2000) and Maryland's Williams (2002) have won three of the past four titles.

In an atmosphere where the coaches often dominate the scene, Barnes said he'll try to keep the attention focused on his players more than himself.

"I want the identity of the program to be about the players," Barnes said. "It will be like that as long as I'm at Texas."

THOUGHTS OF WAR: Every time Travis Diener sinks a 3-pointer or slings an assist, his thoughts are half a world away.

The Marquette guard's cousin, Derek, is an Army officer on a Patriot missile unit in the war in Iraq.

"That's life and death over there," Diener said. "And this is a meaningless game of basketball."

Derek played the sport for two years at Army before graduating in 2000. He was stationed in Saudi Arabia last year and called his family, including younger brothers who play for DePaul and Saint Louis, this month to say he was on the move. He couldn't say where.

"I think about him all the time," Diener said.

The NCAA field was dotted with coaches and players who have personal connections to the war.

IUPUI's Matt Crenshaw served in the Navy before college, and he knows several Marines who are in Kuwait. They e-mailed him before the tournament, urging him to concentrate on the court not the combat. He couldn't, of course.

Creighton forward Kyle Korver's mind was on his high school pal Jeff Mishler, serving in the Army in the Middle East.

"People talk to me about pressure. If I mess up tomorrow -- so what, big deal. If he does, he could die," Korver said before a loss to Central Michigan.

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