NCAA Men's Preview Capsules: Michigan State last of 2009 Final Four teams left

SPOKANE, Wash. — And then there was one: Michigan State, the sole survivor from last year’s Final Four teams still alive in the NCAA tournament.

The fifth-seeded Spartans (25-8) play No. 4 seed Maryland (24-8) in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Sunday in Spokane.

North Carolina and Connecticut didn’t even make the tournament field this year, and second-seeded Villanova was knocked out by Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

That leaves Michigan State, which made a spirited run to the 2009 Final Four in Detroit before losing the title game to the Tar Heels.

"A year can change a lot," said Draymond Green of Michigan State. "We rebounded decently from the players we lost."

It hasn’t been easy for the Spartans, who have endured a season of internal turmoil. Now the team is dealing with injuries. Leading scorer Kalin Lucas twisted his ankle in Friday’s win over New Mexico State. He limped to the podium for a press conference Saturday, but insisted he was 100 percent healthy and will play.

"He is 100 percent in his mind because of what is at stake," MSU coach Tom Izzo said. "I wouldn’t say he is 100 percent."

Izzo was going to give Lucas the day off, but the junior insisted on practicing.

Fellow starter Chris Allen is more doubtful. The Spartans’ leading 3-point shooter missed practice and was wearing a walking boot over his right foot and ankle. Izzo said he suffered an arch injury against the Lobos.

Allen vowed to play against Maryland, but Izzo said it may come down to a game-time decision and is a concern because an injured arch is hard to deal with.

"You can’t tape it like an ankle," Izzo said.

Michigan State and Maryland have played only four times in their history, but that included Maryland wins in 2006 and 2008 that included several of the current players.

"We know their system and they know our system," said Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, the ACC player of the year. "It’s going to be one of those games were you can’t really make that many mistakes."

Michigan State always seems to come up big in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans are 19-5 all-time in first round games, and 10-4 in second-round games since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Under Izzo, the Spartans have are 32-11 (.744 winning percentage) in NCAA tournament games, have advanced to the Final Four five times in 11 years, won a national title and gone to 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments.

"That says it all," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I don’t think anybody has done a better job of that in the country."

Of course, Williams is no slouch. In 21 seasons, he has taken Maryland to 17 consecutive postseason tournaments, won the 2002 national title and gone 24-12 in NCAA games. But they have lost their past two second-round games, to Butler and last year to Memphis.

Izzo has become a legend in winning the second game of any NCAA tournament weekend. Under him, the Spartans have gone 14-3 in that second game, which includes regional finals and national title games.

Green said the reason is endless preparation, watching film and creating a game plan.

"He hasn’t been to sleep," Green said. "There is no other coach that works like him."

"He always tell us, ‘You get me through the first day and I’ll get you through the second day,"’ Green said.

Lately, the Spartans have been living on tough defense, holding opponents to 38.8 percent shooting in the past eight games.

They also caught a break to beat New Mexico State 70-67 Friday. Officials whistled New Mexico State’s Troy Gillenwater for a lane violation before Raymar Morgan missed the second of two free throws with 18.6 seconds left and the Spartans up by two. Given a reprieve, Morgan sank the free throw, changing the Aggies’ final possession from working inside for a basket to a pair of desperation 3-point tries that missed.

Izzo was relieved his team escaped despite shooting just 37.7 percent.

That won’t likely be good enough against high-powered Maryland. The Terrapins had four players in double figures and one who scored nine in beating Houston 89-77 on Friday.

Maryland will need a stellar effort from Vasquez. He was plenty good Friday, scoring 16 points, dishing six assists and pulling down seven rebounds. But he made just 5-of-13 field goals and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Freshman post Jordan Williams came up big, posting career highs with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Williams said as long as Vasquez is distributing the ball well, Maryland will be fine.

"When he can find people who are open, that really helps us," Williams said.

Short turnaround tough for Orange and Zags

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim wishes he had a little more time before the second round of the NCAA tournament. So does Gonzaga’s Mark Few — for more than one reason.

The Orange (29-4), the top seed in the West Regional, face the eighth-seeded Zags (27-6) in the early game on Sunday at HSBC Arena after playing until nearly midnight Friday in their 79-56 win over Vermont. The anxious Orange took the floor after the Zags had beaten Florida State 67-60.

"I don’t know what the process is in this. I don’t want to be upset about it," Boeheim said Saturday when asked if Syracuse should have been given deference — as in a longer break — as the top seed because of its late game. "It makes no sense."

After Gonzaga’s difficult opening-round victory, Few would like some extra time to rest — and to prepare for the Orange’s signature zone defense. It’s a defense unlike any other and has a tendency to cause opponents problems the first time they see it.

"I think initially off the jump ball when they come down on offense that they get a little bit staggered out there," Orange guard Andy Rautins said.

That should give the Orange a leg up in the first meeting ever between the two teams.

"It’s really difficult. Obviously, you’re not going to go very hard today," said Few, who moved into first place all-time at Gonzaga with his 291st victory, surpassing the mark set by Hank Anderson from 1952-72. "We haven’t seen anything like that all year. Obviously, there aren’t many like it, especially with the size and athleticism that they bring.

"Then the other thing that’s very impressive is they run the basketball and get out in transition. Being able to somehow slow that thing down is a tall task in 24 hours."

Syracuse again will play without 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Arinze Onuaku, who is recovering from a knee injury incurred 10 days ago against Georgetown in the Big East tournament. Onuaku hasn’t practiced since he was hurt, and Boeheim said he would never play anyone who hadn’t practiced.

"Losing ‘AO’ is a big hurt to our team. We know that," guard Scoop Jardine said.

"We have to play like he’s on the floor. If he’s not on the floor, he’s still with us no matter what."

Onuaku’s absence means 7-foot freshman DaShonte Riley likely will see playing time again. Riley, who played 125 minutes in 14 games during the season, got a taste of the postseason against the Catamounts and had two rebounds, two assists and a block in 12 minutes.

"I knocked some rust off," Riley said. "The main thing is just having some fun out there. It was good. I know what I’m capable of."

Riley and Rick Jackson, who will start again at center as the Orange stay with a small lineup that moves super reserve Kris Joseph into a starting role, will have to contend with Gonzaga 7-footer Robert Sacre.

"They have great players in the post anyways," said Sacre, who’s averaging 10 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. "It’s one of those things — they lose a big-time scoring threat down inside, but overall they’re a big, physical team. They’re in the Big East, so they will be physical. We know they’re going to come out and bang with us. I know I need to do my role and be a threat in the inside."

This is Gonzaga’s 12th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Zags are 4-4 against teams in this year’s tournament field; the Orange are 12-4. In their impressive string of appearances, the Zags have made the round of 16 five times and the round of eight once, but they’re 0-4 against top seeds.

To break that streak, Gonzaga will have to beat Syracuse in its own backyard. The Carrier Dome is only a 2 1/2-hour bus ride away and HSBC Arena likely will be decked in orange.

"We beat a very good Florida State team, a phenomenal defensive team, and now we’re, gosh, stepping into probably one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever had since I’ve been the head coach," said Few, in his 11th year. "This is a phenomenal basketball team we’re playing in their own backyard that has played great all year. It’s a tall task, but it’s a great opportunity, also."

-- John Kekis

Grade-school teammates Shumpert, Turner face off

MILWAUKEE — Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert doesn’t need a scouting report on Evan Turner.

In fact, Shumpert can probably tell the Yellow Jackets’ coaching staff a thing or two about his grade school teammate.

A spot in next weekend’s Midwest Regional semifinal is the big prize in Sunday’s game between 10th-seeded Georgia Tech (23-12) and No. 2 seed Ohio State (28-7). But there are hometown bragging rights on the line, too, with Chicago natives Shumpert and Turner facing each other for the first time since high school.

"You don’t want to see that person at home and hear, ‘We beat you, we beat you,"’ said Turner, the Big Ten’s player of the year and leading candidate for national honors.

Added Shumpert, "It’s a lot of fun, especially on a stage like this and in Milwaukee, being so close."

Shumpert, a sophomore, is a year younger than Turner. But he was talented enough that, as a seventh-grader, he was put on the eighth-grade squad, where he and Turner were the starting backcourt. When practice was done, they often played one-on-one.

After going their separate ways for high school, they faced each other during the season and in the summer.

"I always remember me winning," Turner said. "I might be biased that way."

No, that’s how Shumpert remembers it, too. He didn’t hit his growth spurt until high school and, after growing seven inches in one year, it took a while to adjust. But his game has come a long way since then, and Turner is likely to have his hands full with his old friend Sunday.

Shumpert is relentless defensively, and often gets opposing teams’ best players. In Friday night’s victory over Oklahoma State, Shumpert limited James Anderson, the nation’s third-leading scorer, to just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Now Shumpert gets Turner, who came into the tournament averaging 20.3 points and 9.2 rebounds.

"Evan’s really aggressive going down the middle. A lot of people I’ve guarded this year are more on the wing," Shumpert said. "When you’re aggressive on the wing you can always force somebody into some help. It’s harder to do that when somebody’s going down the middle as much as Evan does. So it’s going to be a harder matchup."

But one they both hoped would happen.

The two keep tabs on each other during the season, tracking stats and exchanging texts and phone calls, and they saw each other when both were in Chicago for Christmas. Turner even found a way around Georgia Tech’s self-imposed cell phone ban, sending Shumpert messages on Facebook.

When they saw each other at the Bradley Center before the first-round games, Turner told Shumpert he was rooting for Georgia Tech.

"I said, ‘Man, get that win so we can go head-to-head.’ We saw each other afterward and he said, ‘I did my part, now you have to go do yours,"’ Turner said.

The Buckeyes did, despite one of the worst shooting nights of Turner’s career. He was held to nine points on 2-of-13 shooting, and was clearly frustrated by UC-Santa Barbara’s physical defense.

While Shumpert said the Yellow Jackets don’t plan on beating Turner up, they will play him tough — not that Turner would expect anything less.

Chicago is a breeding ground for some of the country’s best guards — Sherron Collins of Kansas and Duke’s Jon Scheyer are both Windy City natives, as are the NBA’s Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade — and kids grow up knowing they better play tough D or they’ll be taking a seat on the sidelines.

"We don’t have a lot of big men so you’re usually going to be guarding a guard. And you’re usually going to be guarding a guard that can handle the ball," Shumpert said. "If you don’t (play good defense), either the crowd is going to be laughing at you or you’re going to get scored on."

And old friends aren’t exempt, especially when it’s the NCAA tournament.

"Everyone’s going to bring it," Turner promised. "You don’t want to go home."

-- Nancy Armour

West Virginia feels ready for Mizzou’s pressure D

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Missouri Tigers can describe their up-tempo, bordering-on-frenetic brand of basketball however they want. West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant is quick to point out the Mountaineers are no strangers to pressure.

Playing in the Big East Conference has a way of preparing teams for just about anything. That includes facing an aggressive defense that Missouri like to call "The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball," as the two teams meet in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

"I think it’s kind of fun and kind of cool to get after it," Bryant said. "We’re not trying to knock nobody’s reputation off. We’re trying to go out there and play 40 minutes and win the game."

Loose and jovial, Bryant was among the Mountaineers’ five starters who sat behind a table at Saturday’s news conference joking and laughing among themselves, showing no signs of concern a day after the East Regional’s No. 2 seed cruised to a 77-50 win over Morgan State.

To be sure, West Virginia (28-6) has plenty of respect for Missouri (23-10) and a Tigers defense that ranks first in the nation in steals (11.1) and forcing turnovers (19.7). Just don’t ask the Big East champs to be intimidated.

"We’re not taking anything away from them. But just by our attitudes, we’re enjoying the moment and having fun," guard Da’Sean Butler said. "They’ve got a really good team. And we’re going to have our game faces on."

The Big 12’s Tigers also are riding high after a 86-78 win over Clemson. It was a game in which Missouri forced 20 turnovers, had a 22-2 edge in fast-break points and ultimately wore down Clemson’s offense.

Don’t expect any change against West Virginia.

"Oh, pressure busts pipes. That’s the way we’re going to play," senior guard Zaire Taylor said. "We’re going to live and die by that. I mean, pressure is what got us here. ... We don’t know any other way."

Both teams are capable of solid defense — the Mountaineers entered the tournament giving up an average 63.8 points and are 24-0 when holding opponents under 70 points. Both schools hail from major conferences, and both just happen to be making their 23rd tournament appearance.

The only thing missing is a real rivalry. They’ve met only once, in the opening round of the 1992 NCAA tournament, which Missouri won 89-78.

That was a long time ago and this isn’t even the same Tigers team that lost to Connecticut in the tournament quarterfinals last year. Missouri lost three 1,000-point scorers — including DeMarre Carroll — and this year have a trio of sophomores leading them in scoring. It’s a group led by 6-foot-6 guard Kim English, who’s averaging 14.1 points a game.

"Last year was a great team. But this year we want to make our mark," senior guard J.T. Tiller said. "I believed we had this type of team to make a run in the tournament right after we ended the season last year."

The Tigers stumbled down the stretch, losing three of four, including a 75-60 loss to Nebraska in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

West Virginia is on a roll, winners of seven in a row and coming off a blowout victory. Before their rout of Morgan State, the Mountaineers’ previous four games were decided by 3 points or less — including a 60-58 win over Georgetown in the Big East championship, which Butler sealed by hitting a running jumper with 4 seconds left.

It was the sixth game-winning shot this season for Butler, who leads the team in scoring. The Mountaineers’ attack is rounded out by three sophomores, including Kevin Jones, who scored 17 points against Morgan State, after the Bears double-teamed Butler.

Against Missouri, the Mountaineers’ intention is to slow the pace of the game to counter the Tigers’ style.

With that in mind, Jones put a different spin on Missouri’s motto.

"I guess we’ve go to make it the slowest 40 minutes of basketball," Jones said, with a wink.

-- John Wawrow

Cal not conceding anything to top seed Duke

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — California’s Jerome Randle held his ground.

The eighth-seeded Golden Bears respect what Duke has accomplished in three decades under coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Pac-10 player of the year said — but they aren’t in awe of the top-seeded Blue Devils.

When the teams meet Sunday in the second round of the South Regional, Randle expects a tough game that Cal has just as good a chance to win as favored Duke, owners of a much richer tradition of success in the NCAA tournament.

"The challenge is you just have to go out there and put it all on the line," said Randle, who had 21 points in Cal’s first win in the NCAAs since 2003, a 77-62 victory over Louisville on Friday night.

"They obviously have a decent scout of us, as well as we do of them. But, I mean, they don’t really know what we’re really capable of. The same as we don’t really know what they’re capable of until we both step on the floor."

With 10 trips to the Final Four and three national titles under Krzyzewski, it’s difficult to ignore Duke’s stature.

The Blue Devils are accustomed to having a target on their backs, so they’re unfazed when opposing players proclaim, as Randle did on Saturday, that "they strap on their shoes just as we do."

They’ve come to expect the other’s team best shot.

"I think it’s a learned experience because you don’t have the same players all the time," said Krzyzewski, whose Atlantic Coast Conference champions dominated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their opener and are trying to advance to the round of 16 for the second time since Duke last made the Final Four in 2006.

"With this year’s team, since we have some veteran players, it’s helped the younger players understand it more, and therefore we’ve done better," the coach added. "But when we only had freshmen and sophomores a couple years ago, they don’t understand that sometimes the team they saw on tape turned out to be a different team."

Cal won its first Pac-10 title in 50 years during a season in which the conference was considered weak.

Playing without suspended forward Omondi Amoke, seniors Randle, Theo Robertson and Patrick Christopher led the Golden Bears to a surprisingly easy victory over Louisville.

The trio’s shooting ability is a potential problem for Duke, one of the best defensive teams in the country. Randle, Robertson and Christopher have more range than typical college 3-point shooters.

"All three of those guys stretch you, and they shoot NBA 3s, so it’ll be a real challenge for our defense," Krzyzewski said.

The Duke coach related his impressions of the three Cal stars, breaking down some of their strengths and saying he can’t remember facing an opponent with more effective long-range shooters.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"The more I’m talking about it, now I’m getting even more concerned," Krzyzewski said. "But they’re really good. I mean, it’s not just coaching talk; they wouldn’t have won their league and scored all the points they have."

Duke’s big, physical frontcourt and superior depth will test Cal, which only had six players play significant minutes. Two others off the bench played three minutes or less.

Although the Blue Devils played down the perceived advantage of having a deep bench, Cal coach Mike Montgomery conceded the Golden Bears can’t afford to get into foul trouble trying to contain Duke’s Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer.

"We’ve played this way all year. We’ve never really gone big minutes past about seven (players)," Montgomery said.

"But at this stage of the game, what I worry about has no bearing on what’s going to happen or what we need to do," he said. "We need to do the things that we do well."

-- Fred Goodall

Big Red gets big opportunity against Wisconsin

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cornell’s locker room was crowded and messy Saturday, just like the Dog Pound back home.

The Big Red, who have 13 players and a team manager living under the same roof in Ithaca, N.Y., have become NCAA tournament darlings. The Ivy League champions have garnered more attention than fellow Jacksonville survivors Duke, Wisconsin and California.

It extends well beyond housing arrangements, too.

No. 12 seed Cornell (28-4) dominated defensive-minded Temple in the opening round Friday and few who have seen the Big Red play will be surprised if they do the same to fourth-seeded Wisconsin (24-8) in the second round Sunday.

"I don’t have Facebook or Twitter ... or anything else, but I got some messages from some coaching friends who said a coach’s worst nightmare is to prepare for this Cornell team (in) one day," Badgers coach Bo Ryan said.

The Big Red have eight seniors with three years of NCAA tournament experience. They lead the nation in 3-point shooting and have five regulars who shoot better than 42 percent from behind the arc. They have a dynamic point guard (Louis Dale), a capable big man (Jeff Foote) and the kind of depth that would make some higher seeds jealous.

Cornell gave the Ivy League its first NCAA tournament victory since 1998 and justified all that talk about being seeded too low.

"We’re just getting started," Foote said. "We have a really special team and we’re capable of a special run. I don’t think the mission is accomplished at all."

Cornell’s chemistry might be even more important to their success.

It starts with the Dog Pound, the nickname given to their upstate New York home. Every upperclassman on the team lives in the three-story, off-campus house that doesn’t have enough bathrooms but promotes the kind of bonding that can go a long way on the court.

"It’s a pretty big factor," Foote said. "One of the keys to winning is liking the guys on your team. I love all these guys. We’re all like brothers. It helps with our chemistry. It helps with little issues. It’s hard to not cheer for your best friend to go out and score 30."

They host "Lost" parties, play table tennis and have countless conversations about basketball and upcoming opponents. They insist there are few arguments, although guys often toss a video game controller during a heated game of Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64.

Yes, Nintendo 64. That’s old school, much like the way they play.

Backdoor cuts, hard screens and crisp, accurate passes are an integral part of Cornell’s game.

The Big Red embarrassed Temple’s vaunted defense in a 78-65 victory that Cornell controlled all the way. When the Owls sagged under perimeter screens, they got burned from the 3-point line. When the Owls tried to get aggressive, they got beat to the basket.

The Badgers, who turned in a strong defensive effort to edge Wofford 53-49, don’t want to make the same errors.

"We saw a couple of mistakes Temple made," guard Trevon Hughes said. "We can’t give them easy looks. We want to chase them off the 3-point line and make them make plays inside the perimeter."

Hughes makes it sound easy.

The Big Red consider it a more difficult challenge.

"I don’t think they’re used to guarding teams that cut really hard and pass well and have five really skilled players on the floor at one time," Cornell guard Chris Wroblewski said. "We can have four shooters on the floor, so I think they’re going to have to adjust to that."

It’s not just any four shooters, either. It’s guys who live together, eat together, study together and socialize together.

"We’ve come a long way since we’ve been here," Foote said.

-- Mark Long

Pittsburgh, Xavier offer unique challenges

MILWAUKEE — Xavier coach Chris Mack faces a challenge going into Sunday’s second-round NCAA tournament game against Pittsburgh: The Panthers had six players score in double figures in their first-round win over Oakland — and leading scorer Ashton Gibbs wasn’t even one of them.

Pittsburgh doesn’t have a true star player. But take away one scorer, and the Panthers can simply turn to four or five more.

"I like Pittsburgh, so I’ve been watching them throughout the year," Xavier guard Terrell Holloway said. "I know they’re all great players. Any given night any one of them could go out there and score 20 points a game."

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon won’t have to look very hard to identify Xavier’s No. 1 scoring threat, but that doesn’t make the task any easier. The Panthers must find a way to stop Jordan Crawford.

Dixon said it will take a team effort to contain Crawford, who bailed Xavier out from a poor first-half shooting performance with 28 points in a victory over Minnesota on Friday.

"One thing you know, he gets a lot of shots," Dixon said. "So he’s going to score some points."

Panthers forward Gilbert Brown said Crawford is a tough player who can score in a variety of ways, but he isn’t unstoppable.

"I think with the type of defense that we play, we’ll be able to manage him," Brown said. "So I’m not really worried about like what they’re going to present offensively to us. I really have a lot of faith in our defensive abilities."

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to face the winner of Kansas State-BYU.

It’s a rematch of Pittsburgh’s victory over Xavier in last year’s tournament. But it’s unlikely either team will get a lot out of film study from that game.

Pittsburgh lost four starters from last year’s team, including DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, who went to the NBA. Xavier has a few new faces, too — and a new head coach, Mack, who took over when Sean Miller left for Arizona.

"We’re two completely different teams," Xavier’s Jamel McLean said. "It’s not a rivalry game between us. But we do know in the back of our minds that this was the team that knocked us out last year. We’re not going to try and make it bigger than it is."

The Musketeers appear to be a more offense-oriented team this year, but Mack says that’s more a function of having different players.

"When you have faster players, it lends itself to being a faster team," Mack said. "We replaced really good players, B.J. Raymond (and) C.J. Anderson, with guys like Mark Lyons and Jordan Crawford. If you had those guys run a foot race, it wouldn’t even be close."

Holloway said the Musketeers remain committed to defense.

"It’s just that we scored so many points sometimes that people forget how great we defend," Holloway said.

Despite the changes for both teams since last season, Dixon said he still will watch film of last year’s tournament game.

"I guess you can read into that," Dixon said. "We’ll get something out of it — or hope to, anyway."

When he does, he’ll see Blair, Young and Levance Fields, who made big plays to help beat Xavier in the tournament last year. Those players are gone, but the Panthers still have plenty of scoring options.

"I feel it’s a tough challenge for them," Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker said. "It shows that we’ve got other guys capable of scoring other than Ashton. We had six guys in double figures. I mean, that tells you how dangerous our team is."

-- Chris Jenkins