MSU Ends Temple`s Dance

David Thomas scored 19 points and Michigan State held off repeated runs by the 11th-seeded Owls to earn a meeting in Minneapolis with either Illinois or Arizona.

The 69-year-old Chaney was coaching in a regional final for the fifth time, but he has never taken a team to the Final Four. The Owls (24-13) were never expected to get this far, beating three higher-seeded teams before their amazing run ended.

After tracking a last-ditch, but meaningless, shot all the way to the rim, Chaney patted Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on the shoulder and walked off the floor alone.

It always takes a powerhouse to keep Chaney out of the Final Four. In his five regional finals, the Owls have lost to a No. 2 seed and four No. 1s, including the Spartans (28-4).

Michigan State`s streak of nine straight double-figure victories in the NCAA tournament ended, but the Spartans accomplished a goal that seemed improbable after losing stars Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson from its title team.

Izzo`s players were serenaded with chants of "One More Year! One More Year!" as they cut down the nets. The biggest cheers were reserved for Izzo, the former graduate assistant from Michigan`s Upper Peninsula who has the highest NCAA tournament winning percentage (.889) of any active coach.

Temple, whose band played the "Rocky" theme in the waning minutes in hopes of inspiring a miracle, fell behind 6-0 at the beginning and never caught up.

But the Spartans didn`t seal the victory until Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining for a 65-57 lead. Freshman Zach Randolph denied Temple with yeoman work on the offensive boards, grabbing two rebounds that set up key points for Michigan State down the stretch.

The nation`s top rebounding team lived up to its billing with a 43-27 advantage over the Owls, who hit only 38 percent from the field and were often limited to one shot and out. Randolph had 14 rebounds and Andre Hutson 10; no Temple player had more than eight.

Michigan State is only the third team to reach three straight Final Fours since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Kentucky was the last three-peater in 1996-98, winning two national titles with a title game loss sandwiched in between.

Temple was trying to equal LSU in 1986 as the lowest-seeded team to reach the championship round.

The Spartans followed their game plan perfectly through the first 17½ minutes. They controlled the boards, denied Temple any easy baskets and kept finding openings in their opponents` vaunted zone defense.

After falling behind by as many as 12, the Owls came back with a quick 8-0 spurt to close the period. Temple went to the locker room trailing only 30-27, missing a chance to tie when Quincy Wadley`s 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out.

The Owls managed to keep it close even though Wadley, averaging 21 points per game in the tournament, was held scoreless in the first half and wound up with only four points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Lynn Greer led Temple with 22 points and Kevin Lyde added 21.

Michigan State pushed its lead back into double figures four times in the second half before the Owls rallied again. Alex Wesby`s 3 with 6:28 remaining cut the deficit to 54-51, but they couldn`t get any closer.

Chaney made a couple of keys changes that kept Temple in the game.

First, he switched his trademark 1-3-1 matchup zone to a more conventional 2-3 alignment when Michigan State found open shots both inside and out. Also, he paired up his two biggest players, putting the 6-foot-9 Lyde and 6-10 Ron Rollerson on the court at the same time to handle Michigan State`s size advantage.

Lyde scored 14 points in the first half, and the Owls wound up with only two turnovers after giving the ball away twice in the first two minutes.

Michigan State, though, simply had too much depth for Temple, which had only nine players on its tournament roster because of injuries and expulsions.

Charlie Bell had 14 points and shadowed Wadley all over the court, denying Temple`s most dangerous scorer. Hutson and Jason Richardson added 11 points apiece.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)