UConn has a deadly weapon in All-everything center Hasheem Thabeet. The 7-foot-3 walking tree is averaging 13.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and an intimidating 4.3 blocks per game this season. He has the ability to shut down any team’s interior player and thwart guards’ tries around the basket. But he does have weaknesses. If MSU senior center Goran Suton (10.4 points, 8.4 rebounds per game) continues to play at the level he did against Louisville and can draw Thabeet away from the basket, the Spartans have a chance to neutralize the big man.

Advantage: Push

Backcourt

Most people wrote the Huskies off when they lost guard Jerome Dyson for the year in February. But since then, UConn has seen huge production out of senior A.J. Price and freshman Kemba Walker in the backcourt. But on the other side, sophomore guard Kalin Lucas has proven himself to be a leader in his second year (14.6 points, 4.6 assists per game, Big Ten Player of the Year) at MSU and senior guard Travis Walton is a man on a mission.

Advantage: MSU

Bench

Sophomore guard Durrell Summers appears to be back in prime condition and sophomore guard Chris Allen also seems to have gotten back on MSU head coach Tom Izzo’s good side. With big men like senior forward Marquise Gray and senior center Idong Ibok coming off the bench in addition to freshman forward Draymond Green, the Spartans should have enough firepower to limit Thabeet. Each team has seven players who average better than five points per game and each team has eight players who play 10 minutes or more.

Advantage: Push

Coaches

No other team in the country has made it to the Final Four as many times as MSU has in the last 11 years under Izzo. And it’s also no secret that every four-year player who has come to MSU has played on college basketball’s grandest stage. But this comes down to some important coaches other than the ones playing in Saturday’s game. Izzo, one of the best coaches in preparing a game plan, has four consultants who know a thing or two about UConn: Indiana head coach Tom Crean, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, Purdue head coach Matt Painter and Michigan head coach John Beilein. Three of the top coaches in the Big Ten all saw UConn this year in action and Crean is in his first year out of a stint in the Big East with Marquette. You can bet those scouting reports will help.

Advantage: MSU

Intangibles

The last team to play a Final Four game in its home state was Duke in 1994. Duke went to the national championship game. The last team to play a Final Four in such close proximity to its campus? Kansas, which won the 1988 National Championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Advantage: MSU

Prediction: MSU 81, UConn 76