Freshman forward Marvin Clark Jr. attempts a point over Louisville forward/center Mangok Mathiang March 29, 2015, during the East Regional round of the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight against Louisville at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. At halftime, the Spartans were lead by the cardinals, 40-32. Erin Hampton/The State News
Syracuse, N.Y. — It was a competitive game for much of the first half, but a late scoring drought by MSU could endanger its Final Four dreams.
At halftime, No. 4-seed Louisville leads No. 7-seed MSU, 40-32 in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans went without a basket for the final 4:07 minutes of the half.
The Cardinal are led by junior forward Montrezl Harrell and senior guard Wayne Blackshear, who have 12 points each. Harrell went 6-for-7 from the field and Blackshear made 3-of-4 3-point attempts.
Senior guard Travis Trice is the lone Spartans in double figures with 10, and junior guard Denzel Valentine has nine.
It took a few possessions before MSU was able to score against Louisville's zone, but Trice tripled on a second chance opportunity to give the Spartans a 3-2 lead three minutes into the contest.
Louisville got inside for several dunks to start the first half. Harrell got a transition slam with 14 minutes to play to put the Cardinal up, 8-6.
It initially looked as though Valentine was off to another slow start, but he went on a personal 6-2 run, capping his run with a spin hook.
Louisville continued to get looks inside, however. A 3-point play by Blackshear and hook by Harrell gave the Cardinal a 15-12 lead.
Sophomore forward Gavin Schilling responded with a pair of free throws and dunk to return the lead to MSU, and a step-back 3-pointer by Trice extended MSU's lead to 18-15.
Trice pulled up from deep to respond to a Louisville bucked and missed, but the senior guard followed his miss with a big time transition block.
A 7-0 Louisville run gave the Cardinal a five point lead, 29-24, with under six minutes left. Trice stepped into a triple at the 5:18 mark to snap the run and trim the deficit to two.
A flurry of buckets from both teams followed the triple from Trice, but Louisville capitalized on MSU's seventh turnover of the half to extend their lead to five once again, 37-32, with 2:52 to go.
A tip-in by Jaylen Johnson extended Louisville's lead to eight entering halftime.
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