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Final clash: Duke-Arizona

GAME 1: Arizona 80, Michigan State 61. A 25-3 run to start the second half propels the Wildcats and ends the Spartans' bid for a repeat.

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2001

[AP photo] Arizona's Richard Jefferson slam dunks after stealing the ball against Michigan State in the second half of their semifinal game.

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a breathtakingly dominant span to start the second half of its national semifinal showdown, Arizona showed everyone -- beginning with defending champion Michigan State -- why it was the preseason favorite to win the title.

Arizona parlayed a stifling defense into a decisive 25-3 run in the opening 5:50 and cruised to an 80-61 win Saturday before 45,406 at the Metrodome.

The Wildcats (28-7), who won the NCAA title in 1997, will go for their second Monday against Duke. "Not a whole lot of people know about our defense, but our defense has been tremendous all year long," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "But people want to talk about the offensive ability. The rest of you take a look at that defense."

Rest assured, Coach.

We will now.

The No. 5-ranked Wildcats, a No. 2 seed, led 32-30 at the half but came out of the locker room with unmatched vigor on the defensive end against No. 3 Michigan State (28-5).

The long arms of sophomore guard Gilbert Arenas and junior forward Richard Jefferson and the Houdinilike hands of sophomore point guard Jason Gardner seemed to be everywhere.

Not only did the Spartans manage to make just 1 of 6 shots in those crucial opening minutes against an aggressive matchup zone, they turned the ball over seven times. Arizona turned four of them into baskets, including a steal by Arenas that he finished with a thunderous dunk.

"I do give Arizona a lot of credit, and yet you're talking to a guy who's totally confused on what happened to us today as far as the turnovers we had," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

"They were very quick today," Michigan State senior point guard Charlie Bell added. "I'd think things looked open and once the ball was in there, they did a great job of reacting to the ball. Arenas was great at it."

Arenas, who suffered something akin to whiplash when he got hit in the chest on that dunk and experienced pain in his right shoulder (he returned, but he had ice on the shoulder after the game and grimaced in pain), set an NCAA Tournament semifinal record with six steals. He also had seven assists and 12 points.

Arizona, which has knocked off a pair of No. 1 seeds from the Big Ten (Illinois and the Spartans) in succession, had 21 points off turnovers. Michigan State had 11 off Arizona's season-low eight turnovers.

At the same time, the Wildcats showed they could beat Michigan State at its own game: attacking the offensive glass.

After Jefferson missed a three-pointer, he got his rebound, brought the ball back outside and promptly hit a three to cap the 25-3 run for a stunning 53-33 lead with 14:10 left.

"People talk so much about their rebounding; well, we're not that bad of a rebounding team ourselves," Jefferson said with a sly smile.

So, did the Wildcats think, "Game over?"

"Yes and no," said Jefferson, who scored 16 of his 17 in the second half. "We knew they're a talented team. You're not as successful as they are without making runs and coming back."

The Spartans, who had won 10 straight NCAA Tournament games dating to last season and were in the Final Four for a third straight year, answered with a 10-0 run as senior forward Andre Hutson scored eight of his team-high 20.

But they got no closer as the Spartans suffered their worst NCAA Tournament loss.

"It was a great performance, particularly in the second half," Olson said. "We made it very difficult for Michigan State to get looks. They did attack us inside for a little while when they made their run and I thought we became a little impatient offensively during that stretch, but otherwise, we certainly could not have played any better in the second half than what we did."

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