As the dangerous five-seed, the Spartans opened their postseason run against Old Dominion, a mid-major that experts thought was ripe for a deep run in the tournament.

Leading 42-37 at halftime, it looked like the Monarchs would live up to the billing.

But the Spartans went on a scoring surge over the last nine minutes to survive 89-81.

In the second round, the Spartans found themselves in a fight with another mid-major — No. 13-seed Vermont. But this time, MSU wasn’t presented with as much of a challenge, dispatching the Catamounts 72-61 behind 19 points from guard Maurice Ager.

In the Sweet 16, the Spartans had a date with No. 1-seed Duke.

Led by the dynamic duo of J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, most experts thought the Blue Devils would cruise to victory.

But guards Alan Anderson and Shannon Brown keyed a 10-0 run for the Spartans early in the second half that gave them a six-point cushion. MSU held on to win 78-68.

In a rematch of the 1999 Elite Eight, MSU and Kentucky produced a game for the ages.

Down by three, Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks hit an off-balance 3-pointer at the end
of regulation that eventually sent the game into overtime.

Sparks’ shot, which danced around the rim before finally swimming through the net, needed to be confirmed as a triple.

His feet were so close to the line it took more than five minutes for the referees to render the decision that it was indeed a 3-pointer.

When the shot was finally confirmed, the Spartans looked deflated. But behind 24 points from Brown, they recovered to win in double overtime.

In the Final Four, however, MSU ran out of magic against North Carolina. After taking a 38-33 lead at halftime, North Carolina stormed back to defeat the Spartans 87-71.

The Tar Heels went on to defeat Illinois and claim the National Championship.