A 2002 graduate of MSU and an Izzone alumnus, Gilbert said there’s a lot of fond memories in making the trek to the Big Ten Tournament, as it reminds him of the early days of head coach Tom Izzo’s tenure and his own college experience.

“Izzo was known and Mateen (Cleaves) had just come on campus and I think the Izzone had just started in 1996,” Gilbert said. “In 1997, I had center-court, fifth row tickets. I’ve never had center-court, any row tickets since I’ve graduated from school and I have a pretty decent job so this is exciting.”

The No. 3-seeded Spartans were unable to overcome a second-half surge led by Buckeye guard Aaron Craft, who finished the day with a game-high 20 points, as No. 2 seed Ohio State advanced to the finals with a 61-58 victory. The Buckeyes will meet Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament final Sunday after the Badgers upset top-seeded Indiana earlier in the day Saturday.

Now MSU will await its NCAA Tournament destination, which will be a long-anticipated reprieve from one of the toughest Big Ten schedules in recent memory.

“I am really looking forward to playing somebody else and I think all the Big Ten teams are and deservedly so,” Izzo said during his postgame press conference. “We’ve beaten the hell out of each other, and we really, really, really have, and I think it’s going to help us all in the end.”

Despite the Spartans getting bounced in the semifinals, Gilbert was one of several thousand MSU fans to support the team in Chicago.

With a crowd stained in a predominantly red shade due to Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio State all making it to the semifinals, the sections of MSU’s signature Green and White stood out around every corner of Chicago’s United Center.

Fellow MSU alumnus and Clearwater, Fla. resident Herb McLachlan made the trip to support his alma mater.

Although McLachlan graduated from the university with an accounting degree in 1961 and wasn’t an Izzone member, he said he still feels a strong connection to the school and the team —particularly his favorite player, junior guard Adreian Payne.

“It’s a team effort,” McLachlan said. “They really play hard and that’s what I like. We’ve only got one senior and I hope nobody else will leave. I get the Big Ten Network down in Florida so we watch all the games during the season down there too.”

Others such as Stanton, Mich., resident Cheryl Thelen said she’s been to a previous Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and noticed the difference between the Chicago locale.

Thelen said the advantages of the Indianapolis location is the proximity between the arenas and activities in the downtown arena, whereas Chicago is larger and more spread out by comparison.

Still, Thelen said she and her family were staying at the Marriott Hotel where the Spartans were staying and had a “crazy fun” time on the trip.

“It’s just fun to see all the different teams represented,” Thelen said.