Michigan State

Midwest Regional semifinalsAt St. LouisNo. 1 Michigan State (31-4) vs. No. 13 Oklahoma (22-10)Time: 7: 55 tonightTV: Updates on chs. 13, 9Line: Michigan State by 9Conference records: Michigan State won the Big Ten with a 15-1 record and also swept the conference tournament. Oklahoma went 11-5 in the Big 12 to tie for third.Coaches: Tom Izzo is 86-40 in four years at Michigan State. Kelvin Sampson is 103-54 in five years at Oklahoma and 279-202 in 16 years overall.Starting lineups: Michigan State: PG Mateen Cleaves (11.8 ppg, 7.2 apg, 2.0 spg)

CapsuleWhere: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.When: 8: 15 tonightTV: Chs. 13, 9How they got here: Both won automatic bids as conference tournament champions, Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Michigan State in the Big Ten. The Blue Devils had little difficulty as the top seed in the East Regional, where they beat 16th seed Florida A&M, 99-58; No. 9 Tulsa, 97-56; No. 12 Southwest Missouri State, 78-61; and No. 6 Temple, 85-64. The Spartans did have a couple of tests in the Midwest Regional, where they beat No. 16 Mount St. Mary's, 76-53; No. 9 Mississippi, 74-66; and No. 13 Oklahoma, 54-46, then had to rally to defeat No. 3 Kentucky, 73-66, to gain their Final Four spot.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Ten minutes before the second semifinal at the Final Four last night, the Michigan State pep band kicked into the theme from "Rocky."The Spartans performed gallantly, but just like the cinema pugilist in his first big fight, they lost to a heavy favorite. Elton Brand made them groggy, and then Duke's backcourt delivered the finishing blows, as the top-ranked Blue Devils continued their run through the NCAA tournament with a 68-62 decision before 41,340 at Tropicana Field.

NEW YORK -- As we approach the annual college basketball carnival known as the Final Four, it's hard to believe that it's barely been a generation since the event had a kind of also-ran status attached.As recently as the early 1970s, highly ranked teams would pass up berths in the NCAA tournament to play in the National Invitation Tournament."It wasn't even a happening in San Diego," said CBS analyst Billy Packer, who called his first Final Four there 24 years ago. "It was a happening for the four teams that finally got there and back in their hometowns, but it wasn't a national deal."

ST. LOUIS -- In the end, after the ragged start, the angry speech and the remarkable turnaround, Antonio Smith wound up with the ball in his hands and the Midwest Region at his feet.Michigan State's 6-foot-8 senior followed the first impulse that hit him. He kicked the ball as hard as he could. "Almost to the ceiling," he said, in half astonishment. "I just let it hang out."Why not? The Spartans, everybody's underdog, had just beaten the odds one more time. They spotted the Kentucky Wildcats 13 points in yesterday's Midwest Regional final, then eliminated the defending NCAA champions with the blunt, efficient end of their ever-present defense.

At St. LouisNo. 1 Michigan State (32-4)vs. No. 3 Kentucky (28-8)Time: 5 p.m. todayTV: Chs. 13, 9Line: Kentucky by 2Conference records: Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season (15-1) and tournament titles. Kentucky finished second (11-5) in the Southeastern Conference East, then won the SEC tournament.Coaches: Tom Izzo is 87-40 in four years at Michigan State. Tubby Smith is 63-12 in two years at Kentucky and 187-74 in eight years overall.Starting lineups: Michigan State: PG Mateen Cleaves (11.8 ppg, 7.0 apg)

Point guardWilliam Avery will be the better pro, but Mateen Cleaves has been just as masterful guiding the Spartans. Avery curbed his inclination to shoot first and learned the nuances of a new position. Cleaves doesn't have a good shooting percentage, but he makes the big ones. Edge: Even.Shooting guardTrajan Langdon's postseason career had been a bust until last weekend, when he broke through by making nine of 12 three-pointers at the Meadowlands. Sophomore Charlie Bell is a fine defender, but the Spartans offense isn't designed to get him any shots.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A "bump in the road," that's what a reporter called Michigan State. The Duke contingent took offense, seeing as how State felt more like a punishing boulder."

The perfect Final Four would have been Connecticut, St. John's, Duke and Kentucky. The first game would have been Connecticut-St. John's III. The second game would have been Duke-Kentucky, a renewal of one of the great rivalries in NCAA tournament history.Kentucky beat Duke in the 1966 Final Four. Kentucky beat Duke in the 1978 championship game. Duke beat Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional final. And Kentucky beat Duke in last year's South Regional final in St. Petersburg, Fla., site of this year's Final Four.

EMMITSBURG -- As the surprise champion of the Northeast Conference, Mount St. Mary's knew it would be assigned a No. 16 seeding in the NCAA tournament. That always means a first-round matchup against one of the nation's titans.But the Mount players nevertheless let out a collective whoop yesterday when they learned they will face second-ranked Michigan State Friday in Milwaukee and not top-rated Duke in Charlotte. N.C."This is better than getting Duke," said point guard Aaron Herbert (Calvert Hall)

DETROIT -Ty Lawson had quite a month. His toe injury panicked thousands. His casino winnings appalled the pious. But nothing could match his Monday. "Never in a million years," he said, "would I think I'd get the Point Guard of the Year and win the national championship." Lawson collected the personal hardware, the Cousy Award, in late morning. Come prime time, he tormented Michigan State and led North Carolina to its fifth NCAA men's basketball title. Neither distinction is debatable.

DETROIT - Common sense says North Carolina will win Monday night's national title game at Ford Field. Common man is pulling for Michigan State. Cold, hard facts say North Carolina hangs its fifth championship flag. Soft, warm and fuzzy wants the banner hung in East Lansing. Clear, independent analysis has declared this game won't be close. Rational thought computed the box score from Dec. 3, when North Carolina came to Detroit for a site-inspection dissection of Michigan State. The final score was 98-63, Tar Heels.

Tonight's NCAA men's tournament semifinals in Detroit: Connecticut (31-4) vs. Michigan State (30-6) Time: 6:07 Outlook: Luckily for UConn, C Hasheem Thabeet's message on his Facebook page was just an April Fool's Day joke. The 7-foot-3 center posted a comment that read: "OMG!!! Why me? So I failed a drug test. Not goin to Detroit. ..... " Unfortunately for Michigan State, Thabeet, who averages 13.5 points and 10.9 rebounds, is playing. The No. 1-seeded Huskies beat No. 3 seed Missouri, 82-75, to win the West Regional and advance to their third Final Four.

Saturday's semifinals Michigan State vs. Connecticut 6:07 p.m. Line: UConn by 4 Villanova vs. North Carolina 8:47 p.m. Line: UNC by 8 Next Monday's championship Semifinal winners, 9:21 p.m. All games on chs. 13, 9

INDIANAPOLIS -On one half of the court, Michigan State's Travis Walton strayed from his teammates' embraces to an isolated area. He crouched while clasping a Final Four cap and stared at the ceiling, saying a prayer while wearing a look of disbelief. In another corner, Louisville's Terrence Williams appeared just as stunned, wandering along the baseline searching for answers and avoiding the post-game handshake line. Neither player seemed to grasp what had happened after second seed Michigan State upset top seed Louisville, 64-52, Sunday in the Midwest Regional final.

The Sweet 16 survivors wear jerseys with names long a part of the NCAA tournament mystique, and the seeds played out mostly to form - a subpar development if you like to cheer for the little guys. But the teams still dancing survived a four-day set of first- and second-round games chock full of compelling and competitive thrillers. At times, CBS couldn't cut in fast enough to games from Boise to Dayton to Minneapolis simultaneously reaching nerve-wracking conclusions. The winners set up powerhouse showdowns for the regional semifinals and finals.

LOUISVILLE FORCED TO RALLY: : Top seed Louisville saw a 12-point lead turn into a four-point deficit in the second half against No. 9 seed Siena before Terrence Williams took over and sparked the Cardinals to a 79-72 victory. USC PUSHES MICHIGAN STATE:: It took a career-high 18 points from Travis Walton, a defensive specialist, for second seed Michigan State to get past 10th seed Southern California, 74-69. The game featured 16 ties and 14 lead changes. INSIDE-OUTSIDE COMBO LIFTS PITT:: DeJuan Blair's powerful inside game combined with Sam Young's shooting to get No. 1 seed Pittsburgh an 84-76 win over eighth seed Oklahoma State.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - It's neither the championship game nor the game featuring the highest-ranked teams. But the significance of tonight's third-place game in the Old Spice Classic goes beyond that. At 5:30 p.m. today, for the first time during the regular season in 15 years, Maryland and No. 21 Georgetown will play a men's basketball game with nothing on the line but pride. "It's ironic that we're playing them here," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. " ... It should be a good game.

South Regional semifinals Site -- Reliant Stadium, Houston Memphis (35-1) vs. Michigan State (27-8) Time -- 9:57 (approx.) How they got here -- No. 1 seed Memphis def. No. 16 Texas-Arlington, 87-63, and No. 8 Mississippi State, 77-74; No. 5 seed Michigan State def. No. 12 Temple, 72-61, and No. 4 Pitts burgh, 65-54. The buzz -- Expect to see a lot of de fense. Both teams are deep and ath letic. Michigan State has a lot of big bodies to throw at Memphis, so there should be a lot of physical play in the low post.

College basketball Ohio State @ Michigan State 7 p.m. [ESPN] The Spartans are trying to figure out what happened against Iowa on Saturday, when they lost, 43-36. No. 11 Michigan State (14-2), which had won 11 straight games, shot just 30.8 percent from the field and made one free throw. Ohio State (12-4) is also coming off a loss, to Purdue.