Halftime thoughts: MSU vs. Pitt

By Joey Nowak

Created:
03/22/08 10:10pm

Last updated:
03/22/08 10:10pm

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Denver — What a way to end the half! Are you kidding me?

A Pitt steal and then Kalin Lucas showing the poise to bring it down and get a lay-up with the clock expiring.

With a half in the books, it’s been all it was cracked up to be: the Spartans lead the Panthers 28-26 at Pepsi Center with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16 in Houston.

Any notion that senior guard Drew Neitzel wasn’t going to show up for a heavyweight showdown like this was quickly put to rest as Neitzel had 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in the first half, eclipsing his scoring total from Thursday afternoon.

On the other hand, senior center Drew Naymick and sophomore forward Raymar Morgan have been ghosts for the first twenty minutes, as each picked up their second fouls less than seven minutes into the game. The two have 11 minutes combined.

Fortunately, players like freshman guard Chris Allen and junior center Goran Suton have held their own. Allen has really shown maturity this tournament, logging quality minutes and providing key sparks off the bench. If you look past a few bungled passes and turnovers, even Idong Ibok has provided some quality tick for the Spartans.

The Spartans are giving up a lot of thickness inside but can make up for it with good boxing out and straight-up defense. The difference-maker is going to be whether these role players can keep it up while Morgan and Naymick can play their way into it in the second half. If that’s the case, it’s MSU’s for the taking.

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