DETROIT — From Motown to Mackinaw City, from East Lansing to yes, even Ann Arbor, a state in terrible financial straits is finding solace and hope in a college basketball team that is as hardened as a laid-off automobile assembly line worker.
Michigan State is not the most talented or the biggest team in this Final Four, but they have the heartbeat of America.
The Spartans, the No.2 seed in the Midwest, having already knocked off Louisville, the Big East regular season and tournament champs, took out No.1 seed Connecticut 82-73 last night in a national semifinal game with a display of Big East basketball.
The undersized but tenacious Spartans held their own on the boards (42-42). They converted 14-of-20 free throws while the Huskies were clanging free throws off the rim (2 1-of-33).
And most impressively, they are making friends and neighbors, family and strangers, many of whom comprised the record crowd of 72,456, smile through their tears.
“I felt it the day we came here,” said Michigan State coach tom Izzo. “I felt it at the hotel. I felt it driving to practices. I felt it at practice. We had a pep rally Friday, I talked to all the people there. My favorite time was today driving to the game and you see some tough homes and some tough places and I did make that an important part of this game.”
“Because I always said as a player you get a chance to be a difference maker and a chance to be a role model,” continued Izzo. “You get a chance to do things to make other people smile; to make other people feel good about you. We are the blue-collar team and this is the blue-collar city.”
This is a city that suddenly has something to believe in — the Spartans (31-6), who will face North Carolina, which took apart Villanova 83-69 last night, in the NCAA title game tomorrow night.
It was a stunning end for UConn (31-5), which won its two NCAA titles by winning the West Region as they did this year. But the Huskies were on their heels from the start, surprised by the Spartans running game and the bounce-back game turned in by Raymar Morgan (18 points, nine rebounds), who played with a plexiglass shield to protect his broken nose.
“They have a cause,” acknowledged UConn coach Jim Calhoun.
When Jeff Adrien went to the line for a 1-and-1 in the second half with 8:46 left, Michigan State assistant coach Mark Montgomery popped off the bench, pointed at the UConn power forward and shouted, “Fifty-percent.”
Adrien missed the front end and Michigan State reeled off six straight to push a 58-54 lead to 64-54 with 7:03 remaining. UConn cut it to 74-71 with just over one minute left, but the Spartans made enough free throws to hold on.
“I think Tommy has done a masterful job of putting the woes of the auto industry and Detroit and Michigan on his back,” said Calhoun. “I never thought they would do what they did to Louisville. I truly, truly believe this, they played different.”
“We played Purdue,” continued Calhoun. “We played Michigan. We beat Wisconsin by 20. We saw tapes of games. And that’s a different team. We’re still a pretty good team. But they’re special.”
Michigan St. 82 Connecticut 73