Spartans run their way to title game

DETROIT (AP) " Of course Big Ten teams run. Wait, that's football.

Michigan State more than held its own against Connecticut, another great rebounding team. What moved the Spartans into the NCAA championship game was their ability to get out and run and score in transition against the Huskies.

The final score of 82-73 on Saturday night didn't have people scrambling for the record book, but there were plenty of heads shaking back and forth in Ford Field as the Spartans broke open a tight game in the second half by getting out on the break.

"We're a run-type team. That's what Coach wants to do. I think when you look at the Big Ten type of play, they take away your strengths," Michigan State guard Travis Walton said. "You know, early on when we was running on teams, we was doing a great job of getting down and scoring a lot of points. We was averaging almost 75 points. You get into conference play, they take away your strengths.

"But we ran, and today we opened up on our break. K (Kalin Lucas) did a great job of pushing the ball. Our bigs did a great job of running up the middle. And our wings did a great job of doing what we do."

Michigan State broke a 44-44 tie early in the second half when freshman Korie Lucious hit a jumper after the Spartans took off after grabbing a missed shot. The Huskies went back up 49-47 on a rebound basket by Stanley Robinson with 14:33 left.

Michigan State's next three baskets came on the break " a dunk by Draymond Green, a layup by Lucious and a layup by Chris Allen " and the lead belonged to the Spartans for the rest of the game.

Overall, the Spartans outscored UConn 22-10 on fastbreak points.

Remember, Michigan State came from a conference that is known for low-scoring, physical games. It wasn't a shock this season to see a final score in Big Ten with both teams below 60 points, and every basket was usually a contested shot down low after time had been run off the 35-second shot clock.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo doesn't agree about the conference being more tortoise than hare.

"I think everybody thinks we don't run in the Big Ten," he said. "We do. We just check and that makes it tough to run.

"I defend our league and I defend our team so much. We want to run, that's what we really do. It's just hard in our league."

The green-clad fans among the 72,456 in the football stadium that was hosting a basketball game were roaring at the running.

Izzo was standing with both hands up, signaling his team to take its time since it had a 62-54 lead with less than 8 minutes to play. His players listened, for a while.

Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet turned the ball over right at the 6-minute mark. The ball was flipped ahead by Raymar Morgan to Durrell Summers on the break and Robinson was with him step for step toward the basket.

Summers, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, went up and threw down a thunder dunk with Robinson right there. The building was as loud as it had been all game. Jimmy Jackson, a former All-America at Ohio State in the early 1990s and now a commentator for the Big Ten Network, jumped up in his seat and let out a whoop.

"Durrell's play was definitely a freakish play," Morgan said. "He's a tremendous athlete, can jump out the gym. I just tried to tip it, luckily it went straight to him and he got a dunk. Two plays that got the crowd into it and the momentum went on our side."

There were still almost 6 minutes to play but Michigan State had broken the game open on the break and the Spartans had a second straight win over a Big East team. They beat Louisville, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, 64-52 in the Midwest Regional final.

"There was never a time " against Louisville, or anybody " that we didn't want to run," Izzo said. "But you have to rebound to run and I thought we did wear them down and depth was on our side."

Connecticut guard A.J. Price said the Huskies were taken aback some by the Spartans' pace.

"They ran the ball off missed shots and made shots. We were kind of surprised by how much they pushed the ball after they made baskets," he said. "I think it took us a little too long to make that adjustment."

The Spartans will face North Carolina, which beat Villanova 83-69, in the championship game Monday night. It will be their second title game under Izzo and the first was when they won it all in 2000.