It also was his victory.

Morgan’s free throw with 1.8 seconds remaining was the deciding factor in No. 5-seed MSU’s 70-69 victory against No. 6-seed Tennessee, which sent the Spartans to their second consecutive Final Four, this year in Indianapolis.

It is MSU’s sixth Final Four appearance in 12 seasons.

“Me being a senior, this run just makes it that much more special,” Morgan said.

“To help my team get there, doing different things throughout the season and everybody doubting us, we’re still getting there so it’s special.”

The Spartans will take on No. 5-seed and hometown favorite Butler at 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

With 11.2 seconds to play, Tennessee guard Scotty Hopson went to the free-throw line with his team trailing by one. Hopson made the first free throw but missed the second one, and the Spartans grabbed the rebound.

Sophomore guard Korie Lucious took the ball up the court and gave it to sophomore forward Draymond Green.

Green drove and looked to go up, but instead found Morgan, who was fouled on his way up.

Walking to the line, Morgan said he didn’t feel any pressure.

“Raymar is a warrior, and he’s always battling,” Green said.

“Once he said that, I knew he was going to knock the shot down.”

After intentionally missing the second free throw, Tennessee’s last resort was a halfcourt heave that fell short.

Tennessee forward Wayne Chism led the Volunteers with 13 points, while center Brian Williams scored 11 and grabbed nine rebounds.

Morgan finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

“That is what seniors are supposed to do,” MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said.

“They’re supposed to rise up and make the big play when it counts, and I think this will be one of Ray’s biggest plays.”

The Spartans and Volunteers battled tooth and nail for a full 40 minutes.

Each time one team grabbed a small lead and seemed ready to take over, the other team stayed poised and fought back.

The fight on the glass was brutal with several players crashing the glass, hoping to give his team the advantage.
The teams ended dead even with 27 rebounds apiece.

“We knew that we had to scrape and scrap,” Izzo said.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy or pretty, and it wasn’t.”

But in the end, Izzo found more of his March magic.

With the win, Izzo joins former UCLA coach John Wooden and current Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches in NCAA history to make six Final Four appearances in a 12-year span.

“The accomplishment certainly speaks for itself and to do it with a number of different teams,” Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said.

“It’s obviously a great accomplishment. Tom Izzo is probably as accomplished and outstanding a head coach as there is in our profession.”

Izzo also is 16-3 on the second game of an NCAA Tournament weekend with all three losses coming to No. 1 seeds.

“It just kind of all falls in place, and I keep bringing up those players in the past,” Izzo said.

“Like Earvin (“Magic” Johnson) said today, it seems like every year he’s saying the same things, because that’s how you win championships. You’ve got to defend; you’ve got to rebound; you’ve got to do the right things. You’ve got to keep your focus.”

As the final buzzer sounded and the team embraced, sophomore guard Korie Lucious was in tears.

A little more than a week ago, Lucious was the backup point guard.

But after junior guard Kalin Lucas went down with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in his left leg, Lucious stepped in, hit a game-winning shot against Maryland and, just one week later, drove his team to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

Lucious finished Sunday with eight points, four assists and five steals.

“I just got to give credit to (my teammates) for sticking with me and helping me throughout these two games to be as sharp as possible and just keep my focus and play my game and just try to help us win,” Lucious said.

As the team celebrated its victory by cutting down the nets, junior guard Durrell Summers, who led the Spartans with 21 points, cut a piece and handed it to Lucas.

But freshman center Derrick Nix had a different idea.

“Durrell got up there and cut Kalin a piece, and Nix was like, ‘No, we should put him up there,’” Green said.

“I thought it was a great idea, so they moved the ladder, and we all picked him up and let him cut the net down.”

It was the ultimate family moment for a team that battled chemistry issues throughout the season.

“He’s our guy,” Green said of Lucas.

“He carried us through a lot this year, and it’s our turn to carry him, and whatever we can do to make his day better, we’re doing.”