With 1:51 remaining, it was as if one MSU guard was handing off the torch to the next as Neitzel fed freshman Kalin Lucas a fast-break layup to give the Spartans a 59-52 lead that all but sealed the deal. On the other end of the floor, Lucas drew an offensive foul to give the Spartans the ball and free throws to put the final nail in the coffin.

Neitzel finished with a game-high 21 points and Lucas added 19.

“You’re talking to a guy who’s been the toughest in 20 years,” Izzo said of his expectations for this team. “I think it’s one of the reasons that we had some upsets and we really talked about it a lot last night and yesterday afternoon. My staff did an incredible job. I can’t tell you how good of a job my staff did.”

When the final buzzer sounded, it was as if the roller-coaster ride and weight of 35 games was lifted off the team’s shoulders. The Spartans celebrated at halfcourt, saluted the faithful standing MSU crowd in Denver and ran into the locker room with a strong satisfactory feeling that this season has been missing.

After making a Big Ten championship his goal for the season, senior center Drew Naymick’s spirits were lifted when his team won the weekend — and just a week late.

“We wanted to win (the Big Ten Tournament) so badly,” he said. “Everybody on our team had a chip on their shoulder this week. You put so much time and energy into what you do and you care so much about what you do. A loss in (Indianapolis) means a lot but here we are in March — we had another chance this weekend and made the most of it.”

The win advances the Spartans to the regional semifinals in Houston, where they will take on Memphis at 9:57 p.m. EDT Friday. It’s MSU’s first Sweet 16 since 2005.

This year, it’s just another opportunity for the Spartans to show their touted “toughness” — the buzzword for the MSU-Pittsburgh showdown.

But as Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon and Izzo said before Saturday’s contest, toughness is about more than brute strength.

For the first time all season, the Spartans were able to overcome foul trouble, an opponent’s late-game surge and get the win.

“Their heads were there,” Izzo said. “When I told them to be there at 9 a.m., they were there. When I said, ‘Be there at 10 a.m.,’ they were there. When I said, ‘Be there early in the morning,’ they were there. They were a little driven.”

The defensive tone was set from the get-go and the Spartans finished with a defensive stand Pittsburgh couldn’t overcome. MSU didn’t allow a Pittsburgh field goal in the final 9:41 of the contest.

“Some things never went our way at the end. We really did a great job of taking care of the ball, but they seemed to have got the breaks at the end some things went their way,” Dixon said.

And as for the “tough” categories of the stat sheet, MSU had more rebounds and points in the paint than the Panthers, while outshooting them and tallying up three times as many assists.

So after finally living up to some expectations that were set for the Spartans at the beginning of this season, arguably the toughest lies ahead.

“This feels good, getting out of the first weekend,” Naymick said.

“But as far as making up for what happened this season, I want to go to another Final Four.”