Hoping Its Star Can Rise Again

Top-seeded Michigan State and third-seeded Kentucky meet today in the Midwest Regional final at the Trans World Dome that, given the Wildcats’ glorious history, has taken some of the focus away from the present and put it on the past.

As in, Michigan State doesn’t have much of one compared to Kentucky.

The Spartans are playing for a trip to the Final Four for the first time in 20 years, a fact magnified since they are playing the defending national champion Wildcats, who have played in the title game each of the last three seasons and are in the round of eight for the fifth year in a row.

“It can be an advantage [for Kentucky] if we let it,” Michigan State guard Charlie Bell said. “We just can’t play the name on the jersey. We have to play the people in the jerseys.”

The people who have a nine-game winning streak in the tournament.

“I don’t feel like anyone is in awe of Kentucky,” Michigan State forward Antonio Smith said. “They’re just another team we have to face. If you are in awe of them, we’re going to end up down 15 [points] five minutes into the game.”

Indeed, Michigan State has problems that come in green and white.

Guard Mateen Cleaves practiced Saturday and said he was feeling fine after the nasty collision with Oklahoma’s Eduardo Najera Friday night.

It’s his offense that’s on the mend.

Cleaves, the Big Ten player of the year in a coach’s vote (the media selected Scoonie Penn of Ohio State), missed 11 of 14 shots and had two assists against six turnovers against Oklahoma. The Spartans were fortunate that the Sooners did not have an offense capable of capitalizing and Cleaves was fortunate that the NBA did not consider him anything close to a lottery pick even before the three games.

Cleaves can still make an impact by providing defensive pressure and running the offense in what the Spartans hope will be an up-tempo game, both of which he is capable of doing. But Michigan State (32-4) will not beat Kentucky (28-8) unless he shoots better. So says the player in a much different spotlight than usual.

“I don’t think so,” Cleaves acknowledged. “Hopefully, I can shoot better.”

Said Spartan Coach Tim Izzo without hesitation: “I agree with him.”

Michigan State forward Jason Klein, the third-leading scorer, has his own struggles. Klein, normally a three-point threat, was shooting a respectable 45.5% overall before Feb. 21, but is at 28.8% in the eight games since.

“Some how, some way, we’ve found a way to win a lot of games,” Izzo said. “And we’re going to try and do that again.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How They Compare

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MSU Ky Record 32-4 28-8 Avg. Pts. 71.9 75.7 Opp. Avg. Pts. 59.1 62.4 Margin 12.8 13.3 FG Pct. .477 .479 Opp. FG Pct. .424 .378 3-Pt. FG Pct. .342 .333 Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct. .318 .328 3-Pt. FG-Game 4.4 6.1 Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game 4.5 6.8 FT Pct. .734 .637 Rebound Margin 9.6 6.3 TO Diff. 1.4 1.3 Avg. Steals 8.0 7.8 Avg. Blocks 2.8 5.3

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