When one facet of the Spartans' game suffered, another would help make up for it. The formula carried Michigan State to a share of the conference regular-season title and into the NCAA tournament's round of 16.
But in last night's game against top-ranked North Carolina, everything fell apart for the Spartans.
They missed layup after layup. They were outhustled to loose balls. They were dominated on the boards and outscored 40-12 in the paint. They attempted 10 3-pointers in the first half and missed them all.
By the time the game was over, the Tar Heels had a 73-58 victory and the Spartans had plenty of questions but no answers.
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| AP PHOTO Although Ed Cota took his eye off the ball he and his teammates had little trouble dispatching the Spartans in last night's East Region semifinal, 73-58.
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It was Michigan State's biggest game since 1979, when Magic Johnson directed the Spartans past Larry Bird and Indiana State for the national title.
Johnson sat in the stands last night at the Greensboro Coliseum but was reduced to the role of a relatively sedate spectator as the thousands of Tar Heel faithful watched their team roll to the lopsided victory.
''I'm very proud of what we've done,'' said Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves, the Big Ten player of the year. ''We made the sweet 16, and we were picked to finish eighth in our conference.''
Michigan State came in as the nation's fifth-best rebounding team. The Spartans had only been outrebounded seven times all season, and never by more than seven. The final numbers last night: North Carolina 51 rebounds, Michigan State 33.
''It was very frustrating,'' Michigan State forward Antonio Smith said. ''It just seemed like they were a step quicker and came up with all the loose balls.''
North Carolina did most of its damage in the first half, building a 38-24 lead by outscoring Michigan State 24-6 in the paint and holding the Spartans to just three offensive rebounds.
Michigan State, which made a school-record 3-pointers this season, opened second-half scoring with a basket from beyond the arc, but by then, it was too late. The Spartans were unable to dig themselves out of their hole.
North Carolina's Shammond Williams drew the assignment of spearheading the Tar Heels' defensive efforts on Cleaves, who had 18 points but missed 14 of his 21 field-goal attempts.
Cleaves' teammates didn't fare much better. The Spartans shot 31 percent, their worst outing since January.
''I can't complain about a lot of the looks we had,'' Izzo said. ''The ball just wouldn't go in the basket.''
| Today's Games |
| No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 3 Stanford 8:05 p.m. |
| No. 8 Rhode Island vs. No. 13 Valparaiso 10:25 p.m. |
| No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Syracuse 7:39 p.m. |
| No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 6 UCLA 9:59 p.m. |
| Tomorrow's Games |
| No. 1 N. Carolina vs. No. 2 Connecticut 3:30 p.m. |
| No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 3 Utah 6:00 p.m. |
| Sunday's Games |
| Purdue/Stanford vs. Rhode Island/Valpo 2:30 p.m. |
| Duke/Syracuse vs. Kentucky/UCLA 5:00 p.m. |
| *All times approximate |
| **All games shown on CBS |
03-20-98
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