Cherish the memories; college goes by quickly. With little time left in MSU senior center Jason Andreas' athletic eligibility, the end caught up with him.
But Andreas' final game at Breslin Center didn't end picture-perfectly; Tuesday night's loss to No. 17 Wisconsin was just the first of many ends - including the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments - throughout March for the 6-foot-10 center.
Andreas realizes his time at MSU is coming to a halt, but Tuesday night the thought of never suiting up to play at his second home - Breslin Center - was still forming.
"Maybe a couple days, maybe a couple of weeks. I'm not even sure," Andreas said of thinking about not playing at Breslin any longer. "I wasn't even thinking about that too much today. I was obviously thinking about it, but you don't really realize it while you're out there. I was worried about trying to win the game, worrying about trying to play as hard as I could."
Through his hard play and work ethic, Andreas has garnered respect from his teammates, coaches, fans and even the always-critical media. All season, Andreas has been the pseudo-figurehead of Spartans basketball, constantly fielding questions about the Spartans' heart, abilities and his link to championships past.
"He's playing better … I think he's playing some of his best basketball," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
"But it's his emotional (side) and his knowledge of what it takes for a team with players that have never been (champions)."
Even Big Ten coaches, who have to spend little time putting together a scouting report on Andreas, are showing him respect. This respect was evident when Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan opted to stick with the same defensive game plan instead of changing it to focus on the Spartans' other weapons when sophomore center Paul Davis left Tuesday's game with leg cramps. Knowing Andreas is far from the Spartans' first option down low or otherwise, Wisconsin still anticipated Andreas to chip in points as often as he could.
"Andreas, we actually have a lot of respect for," Ryan said.
The void in the Spartans' frontcourt was a big one. Davis was putting together possibly a career-best game, which made another inside option scarce for the Spartans. But with 3:11 remaining in overtime, junior guard Chris Hill looked no further than Andreas, who set a screen for the sharpshooter up top and rolled into the right lane to catch a Hill pass for a layup to cut the Badgers' lead to one.
Andreas finished the game with six points, two rebounds and a block in 21 minutes of play, making his last career game at Breslin less than immaculate. But his focus Tuesday and throughout the rest of the season is to keep his teammates together and motivated for another run during March Madness.
"One of my roles on this team is to help them regroup," Andreas said. "Coach is obviously going to do his job, the captains are going to their job. I'm a senior and my time is kind of running out now, and I think that is something I can do to help this team."
