Spartans Knock Out Temple, 72-61, To Advance To Second Round

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No longer a one-man show, Michigan State hopes its deeper bench will lead to a long run in this year's NCAA tournament. Tom Izzo Wins!

Go Green, Go White

Raymar Morgan led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and the Spartans beat Temple 72-61 Thursday in the first round of the South Regional despite a sudden shooting slump from spark plug Drew.

Last year, Neitzel was the Spartans' only option on offense. Now, he's got scorers swarming all around. Chris Allen scored 12 points and fellow freshmen Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers each added eight for fifth-seeded Michigan State, which will face the Pittsburgh-Oral Roberts winner Saturday at the Pepsi Center.

Go Spartans

"There were nine or 10 guys that were responsible for this win," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.
Mark Tyndale scored 16 points for Temple (21-13), which was making its first trip to the NCAA tournament since losing to Michigan State in a 2001 regional final. Daymor Rocks!

Dionte Christmas, the Owls' leading scorer, was limited to three points, 17 below his average, on 1-of-12 shooting.

MSU depicts authority against Temple in the first round.

The Spartans' defense was so good that Temple eventually ditched its sets and let Tyndale just dart to the basket.

Drew Returns and is Alive and Well in Indianapolis

Drew Neitzel scored 28 points in Friday's victory over the Buckeyes. In MSU's loss last Sunday to Ohio State in the regular-season finale, he totaled only six points.

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Spartans lived to breathe another day in the Big Ten tournament. "And I'll tell you, he couldn't have picked a better time to bring 'old Drew' back."

Neitzel found the dagger missing from his game this season, squeezing the life out of a gritty Ohio State team fighting for its NCAA tournament bubble existence with the assassin's cold heart that defined his junior season.

He buried a three-pointer just before the shot clock expired with 1:21 left, giving MSU a six-point advantage.

Making the shot was huge, but perhaps more important for the Spartans' current state was that Neitzel wanted the shot. When you're practically begging a natural born gunslinger to fire away, you're in trouble.

But the old aggressiveness was there along with the old swagger. Neitzel was pumping his fists, defiantly shaking his head at defenders as he rained three-pointers on their heads.

Go spartans!

Big Ten Tournament Tickets / MSU Basketball Tickets

Buy Big Ten Tournament Tickets - Session 1 (First Round) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis IN on March 13 2008



Let's Hope that this changes our luck!




Big-time Spartan bragging rights and, more importantly, an invitation to the Big Dance will be up for grabs when the 2008 Big Ten Conference Tournament tips this March 13-16 in Indianapolis.

Some of the nation's best teams will be on hand — Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and of course our beloved Spartans for example — looking to start March Madness off on the right foot.



Thu 03/13/08
Michigan @ Iowa Indianapolis, Ind. 11:00 a.m. CT
Illinois @ Penn State Indianapolis, Ind. 1:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern @ Minnesota Indianapolis, Ind. 4:05 p.m. CT

Fri 03/14/08
Ohio State @ Michigan State Indianapolis, Ind. 1:30 p.m. CT

Greg's Predictions:

Michigan State will win the Big 10 Playoffs in Indianapolis this upcoming week..

The Spartans will win with defense and rebounding.