“It’s one-on-one, you don’t let your man get the rebound,” sophomore forward Xavier Tillman said.

The Spartans ran the drill three times per day in preparation for LSU’s rebounding assault. But Friday, particularly in the first half, it never came.

It was MSU doing the controlling — a 21-10 edge in the pivotal first half when MSU built a 12-point halftime lead, and a 41-34 advantage overall.

“I did think we did a great job the first half with cutting out,” Izzo said. “We've always been a good rebounding team. Maybe it is in the water. But we're not as good as we used to be. But tonight we rose up and probably made all those former guys proud.”

Senior forward Kenny Goins led the way with 11 rebounds. Tillman and freshman forward Aaron Henry each chipped in with eight.

Goins said he was tired of hearing about how good LSU was rebounding the ball all week, that MSU can get to the glass with anyone.

“It just seemed like people weren’t giving us respect,” Goins said. “We had pretty good rebounding all year. We had moments where we struggled, but still with the emphasis and the fact that we can go out and execute just shows how good we can be.”

LSU coach Tony Benford said he was impressed with the Spartans’ effort.

“They were all over the glass,” Benford said. “That's what we've been doing to teams. They flipped it on us tonight.”

LSU freshman center Naz Reid, who grabbed nine rebounds but only three in the first half, said one factor was the length of the rebounds on MSU’s missed shots.

“It was very frustrating,” Reid said. “We didn't realize it until the second half they were long rebounds. So we were going into the charge circle trying to rebound long rebounds, and they were going over our heads. And just missed check outs and things like that. They wanted them more and they got them.”

Tillman said the Spartans use inner strength to make up for the advantage that opponents have in weightlifting numbers.

“We’re just tough,” Tillman said. “This team is different than a lot of other teams, just like physically we're tough. We won’t let a team out-man us. I’m strong, but we don’t really have big, beefy guys, so it’s all heart. That’s what we have. We just have heart. Whenever it’s a rebounding battle, it’s an effort-based thing, and that’s something we can control.”

After beating a more athletic Tigers team at their own game Friday, MSU will take on perhaps the most athletic team in the country, in No. 1 overall seed Duke, Sunday at Capital One Arena. The Blue Devils defeated Virginia Tech 75-73 late Friday night.

The matchup for MSU’s big men will shift to Duke junior center Marques Bolden and freshman phenom Zion Williamson, the odds-on favorite to sweep the National Player of the Year awards.

Tillman said whatever happens on the glass will be a result of the day before.

“What we do in practice will show on the court, for sure,” he said.