Elite Eight Recaps Part Two

Two familiar faces are heading back to the Final Four as Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans and Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils both advanced on Sunday. It would be pretty safe to say that Coach K’s and Coach Izzo’s experience had just a little to do with their teams advancing to their 11th and 6th Final Four, respectively, when both games were decided in the last few minutes (or seconds in MSU’s case). Let’s take a quick look at final two games of the Elite Eight.

Michigan State 70 – Tennessee 69

In what was a great game from start to finish, it is a shame that the game had to be decided on the foul line (don’t get me wrong, that was the right call). Raymar Morgan’s foul shot with under 2 seconds to play sent Michigan State back to the Final Four for the second year in a row and sixth appearance in the last twelve years, more than any other team over that stretch. Both teams came out on fire, with Tennessee starting the game six for six from three point range and Michigan State matching almost every point. The game had a classic feel to it right from the start. You could tell how much this game meant to each team, especially the upperclassmen as seniors Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince led the way for the Volunteers while senior Raymar Morgan and junior Durrell Summers paced the Spartans. Both teams deserved to win but in the end it was a four-year starter in Raymar Morgan nailing the free throw to send his Spartans to the Final Four in what might have been Tom Izzo’s best coaching performance of his six Final Fours.

Duke 78 – Baylor 71

I told my father before the game that I thought Duke might just have one extra weapon than Baylor and that ended up being exactly the case. With Jon Scheyer struggling from the field in the first half and Kyle Singler really struggling (0-10 from the field, 5 points!), it was Nolan Smith who rose to the occasion for the Blue Devils, sending Mike Krzyzewski to his eleventh Final Four. Smith scored 29 points, none bigger than his four points in four seconds with Baylor leading 61-60 with three and half minutes to go. Smith was fouled, made the first of two free throws, missed the second but Lance Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and immediately kicked it back to Smith who nailed a three-pointer. Just like that, a one-point Baylor lead turned into a three-point Duke advantage and the tide had turned for good. Duke went on a 12-1 run over the next two and a half minutes before Baylor realized what had even happened. The Bears got fine efforts from LaceDarius Dunn, Tweety Carter, Quincy Acy and Ekpe Udoh, but none were enough to offset Duke’s big three, or in this instance big two. Scheyer got hot in the second half and finished with 20 points, leaving the big three right around their season average with 54 points combined, just a tad more firepower than Baylor could offer.

The Final Four is set. Butler will take on Michigan State in the battle of the unexpected while Duke will take on West Virginia in what many will be calling the de facto National Championship. That is probably a bit of an overstatement with Butler playing in its hometown and Michigan State having Izzo on its sideline, but I know that the game I am most looking forward to this weekend will be the Mountaineers and Blue Devils squaring off. Check back Friday as I breakdown the Final Four games and what each team will need to do to win.