Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
The defending champion Spartans beat Temple 69-62 to win South.
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 26, 2001
ATLANTA -- Maybe it's time to put Michigan State alongside storied teams such as Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina.
The defending national champion Spartans took another step into the elite Sunday, earning their third straight trip to the Final Four while denying John Chaney his first.
Even Michigan State's hard-to-please coach had to admit this was something special.
"To be in three straight Final Fours says something about consistency," Tom Izzo said after his Spartans held off Temple 69-62 to win the NCAA South Region.
"Is our program looked at the same way as Kentucky and Duke and North Carolina? Maybe not. But we're trying to get there."
David Thomas scored 19, including a key three-pointer with a minute to go, and Michigan State became the ninth school to reach three straight Final Fours.
"I never though we would do it three years in a row," senior Andre Hutson said. "You have to consider us an elite program now."
The Spartans held off repeated runs by the 11th-seeded Owls to earn a meeting in Minneapolis with Arizona.
The 69-year-old Chaney was coaching in a region final for the fifth time, but he has never taken a team to the Final Four. The Owls weren't expected to get this far, beating three higher-seeded teams before their run ended.
"It's so difficult not being able to make that final step," Chaney said. "It was one missed rebound, one missed ball in our hands, but that was a tremendous team we played."
After tracking a last-ditch but meaningless shot to the rim, Chaney patted Izzo on the shoulder and walked off the floor alone.
"All praise and credit goes to him," Lynn Greer said. "No coach could have done what he did. To get seven guys, five who play 40 minutes, to come play every day, I don't think many could do that."
It always takes a powerhouse to keep Chaney out of the Final Four. In his five region finals, the Owls have lost to a No. 2 seed and four No. 1s, including the Spartans.
Michigan State's streak of nine double-figure victories in the NCAA Tournament ended, but the Spartans accomplished a goal that seemed improbable after losing stars Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson from their title team.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Izzo said. "I didn't think we would get back to the Final Four. But I think these guys wanted their own identity."
The Spartans were serenaded with chants of "One more year! One more year!" as they cut down the nets. The biggest cheers were reserved for Izzo, the former graduate assistant from Michigan's Upper Peninsula who has the highest NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.889) of any active coach.
"The pressure is not off," he said. "I want to win another championship."
Temple, whose band played the Rocky theme in the waning minutes in hopes of inspiring a comeback, fell behind 6-0 at the beginning and never caught up.
But the Spartans didn't seal the victory until Thomas hit a three-pointer with 1:01 left for a 65-57 lead.
Freshman Zach Randolph denied Temple with yeoman work on the offensive boards, grabbing two rebounds that set up key points for Michigan State down the stretch.
The nation's top rebounding team lived up to its billing with a 43-27 advantage over the Owls, who shot 38 percent from the field and often were held to one shot and out. Randolph had 14 rebounds and Hutson 10; no Owl had more than eight.
Michigan State is the third team to reach three straight Final Fours since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Kentucky was the last in 1996-98, winning two national titles with a title game loss sandwiched between.
The Spartans lost in the semifinals two years ago before winning it all last season.
The Spartans followed their game plan perfectly through 171/2 minutes. They controlled the boards, denied Temple easy baskets and kept finding openings in their opponent's vaunted zone defense.
After falling behind by as many as 12, the Owls came back with a quick 8-0 spurt to close the half. Temple went to the locker room trailing 30-27, missing a chance to tie when guard Quincy Wadley's three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out.
The Owls managed to keep it close even though Wadley, averaging 21 points in the tournament, was held scoreless in the first half and wound up with four points on 2-for-12 shooting.
Greer led Temple with 22 points and Kevin Lyde added 21.