New York — Start spreading the news — these Spartans can play.
Junior guard Drew Neitzel had 15 points, including the game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds left, as the MSU men's basketball team (4-0) had its national coming-out party with a 63-61 upset of No. 19 Texas Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
"We had a couple of plays drawn up, I just wanted to make something happen. We're not done, we want to win this championship," Neitzel said.
Freshman forward Raymar Morgan added a team-high 18 points for the Spartans, who advance to play Maryland in the finals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic tonight. The Terrapins (4-0) defeated St. John's earlier Thursday, 92-60.
Neitzel took the inbound pass with fewer than 10 seconds to play, shook his defender with a crossover dribble and drove untouched through the lane. After Texas guard A.J. Abrams' 40-foot heave at the buzzer clanged off the right rim, Neitzel pointed briefly at the
MSU cheering section before getting swallowed by a mob of his teammates.
Abrams scored 22 points, and Kevin Durant added 21 for Texas (2-1), which got all its scoring from underclassmen.
It was The Durant Show early, as the highly touted freshman forward scored seven of the Longhorns' first nine points.
The Spartans went on a 16-6 run midway through the first to go up 19-10, but with Morgan on the bench with foul trouble, Durant caught fire again.
In a two-minute stretch late in the half, he hit a 3-pointer, blocked junior center Drew Naymick's dunk attempt and threw down an electric alley-oop dunk. That run gave the Longhorns their first lead since the game's opening minutes, and they entered the locker room with a 40-36 advantage. Durant finished the half with 16 points and seven rebounds.
But MSU limited Durant to just five points after halftime and Morgan's 3-pointer six minutes into the half keyed a 12-0 MSU run that put the Spartans back up by seven.
After the break, Durant went 1-of-7 shooting and finished with nine rebounds and four blocks.
The Longhorns then mounted an 11-4 run of their own behind three 3-pointers by Abrams, and tied the game at 59 with just more than four minutes to play.
After the teams traded free throws, both Neitzel and Abrams missed 3-pointers in the final minute.
Sophomore guard Maurice Joseph hit 3-of-5 3-pointers and finished with 12 points. The Spartans shot 9-of-18 from 3-point range and limited the Longhorns to just 7-of-26 from behind the arc.
Morgan became the first MSU freshman ever to begin his career with four straight double-digit scoring games.
