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Jason Chiou
The State News

MSU head Tom Izzo coach answers questions from reporters regarding what to expect when the Spartans go against Pittsburgh on Saturday at Pepsi Center in Denver.

Purchase this photo at reprints.statenews.com

Jason Chiou
The State News

“If I say that (amount of time watching film last night) I might get in trouble by coach,” says junior guard Travis Walton, far right, while answering a reporters question as his teammates chuckle, “but I stayed up pretty late”. (From left to right) Freshman guard Kalin Lucas, sophomore forward Raymar Morgan, and senior guard Drew Neitzel answered questions at a press conference on March 21 at Pepsi Center in Denver regarding their next game against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

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Denver — Travis Walton and Co. have already shut down one team’s standout player in the NCAA Tournament. With another round comes another threat.

After the junior guard, sophomore forward Raymar Morgan and a slew of other MSU players held the Atlantic 10’s leading scorer, Dionte Christmas, to three points on Thursday, the Spartans will be accountable for guarding Pittsburgh guard Levance Fields.

Fields had a season-high 23 points in Pitt’s win against Oral Roberts on Thursday. The Panthers (27-9) and Spartans (26-8) face off for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 at 9:10 p.m. on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

“Levance Fields is that engine that keeps them going,” Walton said.

The No. 5-seed Spartans defeated No. 12-seed Temple, 72-61, on Thursday behind 15 points from Morgan and 12 points from freshman guard Chris Allen. Senior guard Drew Neitzel, after averaging 27 points per game in the Big Ten Tournament, was held to five.

“That game’s in the past,” Neitzel said. “I shot the ball great today in practice. I’m going to let ‘em fly. Whether I’m hitting them or they’re not going in, I’m going to shoot them. They key is just to stay aggressive and make plays.”

After winning its first 11 contests of the season, the Panthers went through a rough patch in the Big East regular season, finishing a disappointing seventh in the league with a 10-8 record. Much of the struggle was due in part to Fields going down with a fractured left foot Dec. 29.

He returned Feb. 15 and the Panthers are now red-hot, riding a six-game winning streak that includes blazing through the Big East Tournament for the championship. With Fields out, the Panthers relied on their frontcourt, as forwards Sam Young and DeJuan Blair are averaging 18.1 and 11.6 points per game, respectively.

Regardless of which player the Panthers look to for scoring, the game will pit two of the country’s most well-known physical clubs against one another.

“Watching them yesterday, I see an air of confidence and cockiness but not an air of talking it, just doing it,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “Some people talk it and don’t walk and some people walk it and don’t talk it. Those are the real tough teams — the teams that don’t have to talk it.”

The two teams have no opponents in common, while the Spartans have a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. The teams haven’t met since 1955. Izzo is 11-2 in second-round NCAA Tournament games, while Dixon is 6-4 in tournament games.

Published on Friday, March 21, 2008