The dream is still alive for the Michigan State Spartans.
With a 74-69 victory over the Southern California Trojans on Sunday night, Tom Izzo takes his team to the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in 12 years. Although USC held tough the entire 40 minutes, the Spartans came out on top and advance, yet again, to the field of 16.
Overall, Michigan State’s win was a team effort. But though the entire squad played a part, if you had to pick a genuine heroine it would have to be senior point guard, captain, and Big Ten defensive player of the year Travis Walton.
Walton scored a career-high 18 points against the Trojans. He scored more Sunday night than in Michigan State’s last six regular season games combined. The last time Walton scored in double digits was Jan. 10 against Kansas, MSU’s next opponent. He was 8-of-13 from the field, and while Walton was the main one scoring he wasn’t the only one.
Sophomore guard Durrell Summers had a quiet but helpful game, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds. The two other sophomores contributed as well; point guard Kalin Lucas chipped in with 10 points and seven assists and guard Chris Allen put up eight points and three assists. Even freshman forward Delvon Roe did his part with 10 points and two rebounds.
But beating USC was no easy task. Until the last minute of the game, the score was still tight. The Trojans’ premier big man, junior Taj Gibson, was held to a mere three points and no rebounds, and fouled out with 5:18 left to go in the game. Despite this, the guards were playing their part in keeping Southern Cal as close as possible and even claiming several leads.
Junior guard Dwight Lewis slapped on 19 points and junior guard Daniel Hackett put in 13 of his own, along with five assists. Freshman forward DeMar DeRozan put in 18 points and grabbed five boards. While there were certain factors
Try this on for size; there were a total of 16 ties and 14 lead changes.
But Walton was the star of the evening. It seemed that this one statistic was playing in his mind; every four-year player under Tom Izzo has been to at least one Final Four.
Walton doesn’t want to be the exception to this statistic. And thanks to his stellar offensive performance, he’s still got a chance to join the club.
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