“It’s going to be a horse race and a grind,” he said. “And it’s going to come down to the last few possessions of the game. It’s going to be the little stuff that’s going to help us win this game — defensive rebounding, containing turnovers and stepping up and hitting big shots in the last few minutes.”

And another point of interest — playing a brick-wall defense in the lane, locking down the Tigers’ ability to drive into the paint.

“If they can penetrate, (forward Joey) Dorsey becomes a monster in there,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “If we had to take away one thing, transition defense would be big, but penetration from the 3-point line in would be key (as well). The one advantage, if there is one, is that they don’t shoot as well from the (free throw) line.”

Izzo couldn’t be more dead-on, as Memphis (34-1) has tallied a 59.2 percentage from the charity stripe on the season, with no player shooting better than 69.5 percent — an issue the Spartans (27-8) have recognized.

But Memphis’ head coach John Calipari is shocked anyone is making a big deal of the team’s poor free-throw shooting — as it has shot the same for three years in a row, yet ended up in the Sweet 16 every time.

“My only comment was that we played Mississippi State and had five turnovers, and all anybody wants to talk about is free-throw shooting,” he said, before adding that it’s funny it’s still mentioned at all.

Memphis’ guard Chris Douglas-Roberts summed it up by saying, “Free throws have never lost us a game.”

Yet MSU doesn’t plan to simply hack-a-Tiger to solve its problems because of how necessary it is to keep sophomore forward Raymar Morgan and junior center Goran Suton off the bench and on the hardwood, out of foul trouble.

“(Morgan) and (Suton) have to grow and have to understand their value to us,” Izzo said. “(Morgan’s) got to give up a layup instead of fouling. The compliment to that is because I need him on the floor. Telling a guy ‘Don’t put your hand in the cookie jar is OK.’”

Although Memphis’ league, Conference USA, is not known as a powerhouse or elite group of teams compared to the Big Ten, Izzo specified that Memphis is unlike 99 percent of teams in the country — different meaning solid and dangerous.

And senior guard Drew Neitzel disagrees with analysts who say the Tigers are actually the underdog, as many have said Memphis will be the first top seed to exit the Big Dance.

“Memphis has been No. 1 or 2 all year so they’re very talented — they have a lot of depth,” he said. “We’re still the underdog, so we just gotta go out there and execute the game plan. We’re excited where we’re at, but we’re not satisfied. Our goal is to finish in San Antonio. That’s what we’re going to Houston to accomplish this weekend.”

But in their way, stopping the Spartans from capitalizing, are Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, two players Izzo has labeled as “All-American,” who average a combined 31.3 points a game, as well as 8.4 rebounds.

“It’s going to be a war,” Douglas-Roberts said. “I don’t know who I’m going to be matched up with — whoever it is, it’s definitely going to be a dog fight.”