There's a sports adage that says special players make special plays on special days. But to the embarrassment of the MSU men's basketball team Sunday, most of the special players donned maize and blue.
The plays that determined Sunday's 60-58 loss to intrastate rival Michigan simply didn't turn in the Spartans' favor. Despite sophomore guard Chris Hill's deft shooting touch in the game's dwindling moments and senior forward Aloysius Anagonye's stellar defensive effort against Michigan guard LaVell Blanchard, the big-time plays went to the guys in gold.
MSU (10-8 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) has dropped six of its last eight and five straight on the road. Michigan (13-6, 6-0), however, marked its 13th straight victory with the win over the Spartans.
But the difference in this contest came down to three key plays that sealed MSU's fate and gave Michigan the clutch win:
• Play one. Following a timeout just five minutes into the second half, an inbound play goes horribly wrong. Freshman forward Paul Davis sets up near midcourt to accept a long pass from the baseline. With no open Spartans in sight, a lofted pass to Davis is the safety valve for the broken play.
But the long pass is overjudged and sails past Davis into the Michigan backcourt. Davis, seemingly oblivious to Michigan guard Daniel Horton streaking past him to retrieve the errant pass, casually jogs after the loose ball only to see it controlled by Horton, who is already sizing up an uncontested drive to the basket.
The result? A Davis hack, two free throws from Horton - mind the two-point loss - and one steamed head coach Tom Izzo.
"Give Daniel Horton credit when he tracked down that ball as one of our freshmen jogged to get it," Izzo said. "It was embarrassing and disappointing to me and our program. Those little things you look at our team hasn't learned yet is the difference between winning and losing."
"Not very often am I going to call a kid out, but a kid deserves to be called out when you jog back and another guy gets the ball and it ends up a two-point game. He's going to have to learn from that, which he will. He's a good player."
After that, 36-32. Advantage Michigan.
• Play two. The score is knotted at 52 with 4:36 to play in the second half. MSU and Michigan are trading missed shots at a frenzied pace. The tension is palpable, and the basketball gods are smiling on one person to blow the game open.
Too bad it was Horton once again with only 1:24 left.
Coming off a screen at the top of the perimeter, Horton stands three feet behind the arc, sizes up the long range trey and fires. Cash. Bedlam ensues in the normally reserved Crisler and most know it's curtains for the Spartans.
Horton remained casually smug about it following the game.
"The guys put us in the right position to make the big plays," said Horton, who finished with 17 points.
"I'm not going to get rattled or nervous when we're down. I just like to play basketball."
• Play three. Held scoreless for nearly the entire game and winless against the Spartans in his tenure at Michigan, Blanchard nets some points that make the difference.
After being physically outmatched by the Spartans most of the game - at one point being pinned to the ground by the larger Anagonye behind a fast break - Blanchard goes to the free-throw line with just 10 seconds left to play. The senior calmly sinks two clutch foul shots, which would ultimately be the game-winning points.
Though it was perhaps bittersweet to score only two points against a team that had given him so much trouble in the past, Blanchard's game face would never tell.
"We had faith in our teammates," Blanchard said. "Like I said before, look at that score, how can we be upset? We won."
Though Michigan's businesslike demeanor on the court and off Sunday often gave way to the team's sense of accomplishment, it is rightfully riding high.
MSU on the other hand, will have one day to regroup before hosting Indiana at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Breslin Center.
