Winston-Salem, N.C. — We knew that for MSU to win in the NCAA Tournament, someone other than junior guard Drew Neitzel would have to step up.

But if you were the one who guessed that someone would be walk-on junior forward Jake Hannon, put the paper down, go buy a lottery ticket, then come back and finish reading. You are obviously channeling some serious clairvoyance.

A quick tale of the tape between the two:

Neitzel is from Wyoming, a city on the west side of Michigan. Hannon is from Wyoming, a state on the west side of the country.

Neitzel played 39 minutes in MSU's last game. Hannon played 39 minutes all season.

Neitzel dreams of being in the NBA. Hannon dreams of being an optometrist.

But there were the two of them together here at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night, sharing the floor for MSU for five minutes at the end of the first half.

Neitzel was in because he's far and away MSU's best player. Hannon was in because he was far and away the only guy left on the bench at the time. Junior center Drew Naymick and sophomore forward Marquise Gray were hampered by fouls, and sophomore center Idong Ibok had gone to the locker room before halftime after an elbow injury.

Head coach Tom Izzo pointed down the bench at Hannon, who was hit with a rush of adrenaline and an incessant, overriding thought: Don't screw up.

"There were some plays on offense they were calling from the bench that I didn't even know," Hannon said. "It was like, 'Box two! Three down!' And I was just like, 'Aaah! I don't know that play!'"

It didn't matter. In eight minutes, Hannon didn't miss a beat — deflecting a pass, finishing a reverse layup and assisting on a 3-pointer. So much for wilting under the spotlight.

Hannon didn't win MSU the game, but he was the poster child for a huge performance from the Everyone But Neitzel department that carried the Spartans to a 61-49 first-round win against Marquette.

"There was a lot of people who contributed tonight," Hannon said, "and I think that's probably the theme of the game."

Gray had his best game in months with 12 points and five rebounds. Freshman forward Raymar Morgan scored 14 and was a rebound short of a double-double. Sophomore guard Travis Walton had five points, five assists, four steals and some disruptive defense on Dominic James.

Take away Neitzel's 12 points — which came under heavy duress — and it's still a tie game.

"It was rewarding to see other guys step up," Izzo said. "They stuck with (Neitzel) pretty good, and boy, thank goodness the other guys came through."

The joint effort was most astonishing on defense, where MSU held Marquette scoreless for almost 10 minutes to start the game and limited them to just five two-point field goals for the night — tied for the fewest ever allowed in the NCAA Tournament.

"That's been our staple the whole season, our defense," Neitzel said, "and that's what won us the game tonight."

It was a jaw-dropping performance from the Spartans — a relentless domination that felt like a snake violently snatching its prey, then slowly choking it to death.

Now, that game Saturday against big, bad one-seed North Carolina doesn't seem quite so unwinnable anymore.

"If we do the same thing we did today, we can be in the Sweet 16, easily," sophomore forward Goran Suton said.

And why not? Even if Neitzel gets hounded again, you think the Tar Heels have a game plan drawn up to stop Jake Hannon?