MINNEAPOLIS - It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
Suffering its worst defeat of the past four seasons, a sloppy and confused MSU squad fell to Arizona 80-61 Saturday night in a contest that exposed the Spartans’ weaknesses to the nation.
“It was just one of those types of games that just snowballed,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said of his Spartans, who never had a lead in the game. “I thought our guys were prepared since they practiced extremely hard all week, so it was very shocking to see what happened out on the floor.”
With troubles distributing the ball against a pressuring Wildcat defense and cold shooting throughout the game, the Spartans were sent back to East Lansing early, leaving a disturbing memory in the minds of the team’s successful senior class.
Senior guard Charlie Bell, who had one of the worst shooting nights of his career with a 1-of-10 performance from the field for three points, took responsibility for the team’s loss.
“This was the type of game that I knew I really had to play well in,” he said. “I really didn’t and I feel like I let this whole team down. It hasn’t really set in that this was my last game out on the court wearing a green and white jersey.”
Guard Jason Gardner had a game-high 21 points for Arizona, while senior forward Andre Hutson led the Spartans with 20. Hutson, who started slow, scored 18 of those points in the second half.
As a nationally acclaimed coach known for instilling a family atmosphere in the Spartan program, Izzo promised he wouldn’t dwell on the loss and discount any of the accomplishments his five experienced senior players have earned.
“I felt a little helpless out there and thought I failed as a coach,” Izzo said of seniors Bell, Hutson, Brandon Smith, David Thomas and Mike Chappell. “I feel bad for our seniors who will have to live with this. But at the same time I’m not going to let one game ruin four years of a career.
“Those guys are special and I love them.”
Taking an early 5-0 lead after a fast break layup by Gardner, Arizona was able to dictate the tempo of the game by aggressively contesting shots and forcing the Spartans to play more of a half-court offense.
It resulted in the guard trio of Bell, freshman Marcus Taylor and sophomore Jason Richardson to cough up nine of MSU’s 15 turnovers.
The Wildcats, led by guard Gilbert Arenas’ six steals, were able to score 21 points off Spartan miscues.
“We really did a great job getting in the passing lanes and getting steals,” said Arizona forward Michael Wright, who had 13 points. “A lot of people were talking about MSU’s defense going into the game, but we also know how to defend. We’re a very quick team that always plays extremely hard.”
Despite playing poor and trailing 32-30 at the half, senior guard Thomas said he still thought the Spartans had a chance to pull away.
The Wildcats, though, came out strong after the break, going on a 21-3 run to take a 20-point lead.
“We all thought we still had a chance. We were playing some of our worst basketball of the year and were only down two,” Thomas said.
“But you have to give Arizona credit, they really fought hard until the end.”
Arizona head coach Lute Olson said he was proud of how his team was able to maintain intensity on both ends of the floor, despite a late MSU scoring run and constant attack on the boards.
As the nation’s top rebounding team all season, the Spartans had a 40-33 advantage on the glass.
But it wasn’t enough, as Arizona turned in its best performance possible after the break, Olson said.
“We certainly couldn’t have played any better in the second half,” he said. “It was key not to give MSU a lot of additional ball possessions and we did a great job making sure that didn’t happen.”
The loss brought the basketball team’s season to an abrupt finish, but it was still full of highlights.
Spartan seniors became the winningest class in Big Ten history and the team advanced to a third-straight Final Four.
And sophomore forward Al Anagonye, who was in foul trouble Saturday, said he still thinks MSU’s season was a success despite the loss to Arizona.
“In this tournament it was do or die and we died today,” Anagonye said. “We have to look on the bright side, because we still ended up with a 28-5 record and did a great job all year.”
Eric Lacy can be reached at lacyeric@msu.edu.
