Indianapolis — They didn’t need an All-American. They didn’t need a Naismith Trophy hopeful. They didn’t need a celebrity following at games.
All the Spartans needed was the same vision.
Spartans find strength in their unity
Senior guard Travis Trice signs an autograph April 3, 2015, during a practice at the NCAA Tournament in the Final Four round at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Spartans practiced in preparation to play against Duke the next day. Erin Hampton/The State News
Among other factors such as the leadership of its experienced players and the support of former players, MSU has used a common goal to vault itself into the Final Four.
Teams like Kentucky and Duke might have had the highest rated recruits and Wisconsin might have had the guidance of upperclassmen hungry for a return to the Final Four, but in East Lansing, the Spartans had a relatively unheralded group of players.
A lot of good players donned the green and white but nobody was truly great. MSU’s advantage, however, comes from its unity.
“If guys see the same thing and want the same thing and no matter what happens, they go after the same thing, it’s hard to beat that group,” freshman guard Lourawls Nairn said. “It’s hard to break them apart. I think that’s what happened to us. When we had our ups and downs in the season, nothing was going to break us apart.”
Axes were swung at them throughout the season and postseason play. In the Elite Eight, an eight point halftime deficit to Louisville, a team that had won 95 games in a row when leading by at least six at the break, couldn’t break the Spartans apart.
Illness and life-and-death situations couldn’t break senior guard Travis Trice apart. Injuries to senior forward Branden Dawson couldn’t crumble him either.
This year’s resilient squad is also one of head coach Tom Izzo’s closest teams. It started in the summer, continued throughout the year, and has culminated in a trip to Indianapolis.
“They were together, spent time together,” Izzo said. “You hear those stories. Sometimes they're stories, sometimes they're fabricated. I got to watch them, live them, now I see the results of them. That's pretty neat.”
The Spartans will face Duke tonight (6:09 p.m.) with a chance to play in the National Championship game on Monday.
To outsiders, the Spartans might be an underdog. Izzo doesn’t disagree with that notion, either. But MSU will put its mind over matter approach to the test, and win or lose this evening, the players will handle the results in unity, the way they have all year long.
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