Pitino and Izzo exchanged timeouts and the stage was set. Sophomore guard Terry Rozier ended up with the ball at the top of the key and drove the lane to his right. His shot was no good, junior forward Montrezl Harrell’s follow was no good, but redshirt sophomore Mangok Mathiang rebounded the miss and went back up. His first free throw bounced in but the second missed. Overtime.

MSU hung in overtime to cap a very improbable run to the Final Four.

To start the game, Louisville junior forward Montrezl Harrell looked unguardable in the first half, shooting an efficient 6-for-7 from the floor to finish with 12 first half points.

Heading into the game, Harrell mentioned that he didn’t think MSU senior forward Branden Dawson ran with the same amount of energy as himself, turning attention to what looked to be an interesting matchup.

Dawson got out to a slow start, managing just two points and badly missing some shots. He was solid on the boards, as usual, and in the second half, (things turned around a bit).

Junior guard Denzel Valentine missed a few shots to start, but eventually, he found his groove offensively. He did, however, throw the ball away two times in the first half and added to a turnover-plagued first 20 minutes for the Spartans.

Defensively, MSU struggled. The Cardinals back-cut the Spartans, penetrated the lane with ease, and even simply lobbed the ball over the head of MSU defenders en route to a 40-32 lead at halftime.

Dawson came out of the locker room looking to score, and on MSU’s first possession, he took one dribble and attacked, finishing with a three-point play. It was the start of a 7-2 run that ultimately forced Louisville head coach Rick Pitino to call a timeout.

The Spartans eventually whittled the deficit to just one point (42-41) following a strong take from junior forward Matt Costello. But much like the Oklahoma game, it took some time for MSU to actually take the lead.

Foul calls started to take both teams of their rhythm, but the Spartan defense held its ground. The Cardinals scored their second basket of the half at the 11:01 mark, when sophomore guard Terry Rozier stepped in front of a lazy Dawson pass and finished at the rim.

With about eight and a half minutes left on the clock, junior guard Bryn Forbes knocked down yet another crucial shot in the tournament, hitting a triple to give MSU a 54-51 lead. The shot lifted Spartan fans to their feet, and on the next possession, Trice gave them reason to keep standing, connecting on another three and giving MSU a six-point cushion.

The Cardinals offensive nightmare continued and by the 3:57 mark in the half, Louisville made just three of its 20 attempts in the half. The three makes? Transition scores off of steals.

On a Louisville fast break, Blackshear connected on a critical three-point attempt, cutting MSU’s lead to just 63-62. He broke free in transition moment later, and after a foul, he hit two free throws to give his team a one-point lead.

Clark came up short on his free throws and Louisville tied the game to send things to overtime.

It was Forbes who struck first, once again hitting a three from the right corner. He was fouled on a floater in the lane and nailed two free thows, putting his team up 70-66. 

The Cardinals narrowed it a two-point deficit, but Dawson responded for the Spartans. A strong put-back score gave MSU a cushion and the team held on for head coach Tom Izzo’s seventh trip to the Final Four.

Trice finished with 17 points and Valentine finished with 15 points to lead MSU.