Spartans Send Hoos Home Again

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the second straight season, Michigan State destroyed Virginia’s postseason dreams. A year ago, the Spartans sent the Cavaliers’ packing from the Sweet 16 with a 61-59 loss. On Sunday in the 2015 NCAA Tournament rematch, MSU dealt a 60-54 defeat to UVa.

A solemn group tried to make sense of the abrupt end to the season, which saw Virginia lose three of its last five games despite being ranked in the 10 throughout the campaign. The Hoos have never beaten Michigan State in five series meetings.

“They’re an excellent team,” UVa guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “They’re an excellent team that beat us today and for the second year in a row. It hurts.”

“I feel like we had a lot more to go and we got cut short,” Virginia’s London Perrantes said. “It’s disappointing. We wanted a championship and that’s what we strived for all year. We could be in the championship game and it would still be disappointing. Regardless of where you lose and where you finish off the season, if it’s not with a win then it’s disappointing.”

The Cavaliers struggled out of the gate and never fully recovered after the Spartans jumped out to a 15-4 lead. Another slow start created an uphill climb for the Hoos. Virginia has opened games slowly regularly over the past several weeks and even Justin Anderson’s return to the starting lineup Sunday didn’t help.

By the under-12 media timeout at 10:36, the deficit still stood at 17-9 as Michigan State hit 7 of its first 11 shots (63.6%). On the flipside, UVa had made only 4 of 12 attempts (33.3%). Travis Trice did most of the damage with 13 of his team’s first 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Trice finished with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting. In addition to his fast start, he also had a couple of big possessions in the second half to beat the shot clock with a step-back jumper at 7:20 and a 3-pointer at 2:50. Branden Dawson added 15 points and 9 rebounds as well.

“The way we started, there was a little bit of a pattern or a trend for us, where our starts hurt us,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “And when Trice had 13 points in the first 5 minutes, we dug ourselves a hole. That first five minutes, it wasn’t a matter of heart or effort. I thought our guys played hard. It was just that when we needed a key shot or a bucket, it wasn’t there.”

That theme carried through the remainder of the game as well as the Cavaliers struggled mightily to put the ball in the basket. A 4-of-12 shooting start reached 5 of 20 (25%) depths before settling at 8 of 30 by halftime (26.7%). That represented the team’s lowest shooting half of the season. Things only improved marginally in the second half and Virginia finished 17 of 57 from the floor, a season-low 29.8%.

UVa’s guards could not solve Michigan State’s defense throughout the game. Brogdon finished with 9 points on 3-of-12 shooting and made only a single 3-pointer, which came in the final minute during a desperation rally. Anderson hit 2 of 7 shots for 8 points, while Perrantes knocked down 2 of 10 shots for 5 points.

As a team, the Cavaliers managed only 2 3-pointers on 17 attempts, a ghastly 11.8%. That category alone had a heavy impact on the outcome because the Spartans made 6 of 12 triples (50%).

MSU coach Tom Izzo said his team altered their typical defensive style to deal with the Hoos and the changes paid off. The Spartans played off the passing lanes and packed it in more than is typical of their style, adopting a sagging style like the Pack-Line to try to make Virginia make jump shots.

“We just kind of changed what we do and we did it in a day and half,” Izzo said. “We did some things against Wisconsin where we changed how we play. Some guys are just concept guys that do the same thing and I respect that because we’re just not as a talented as we have been and so we’re always cheating and trying to find a way to get an edge. Give my staff a lot of credit. They stayed up and did it.”

Virginia eventually got a little bit going with Anthony Gill and Darion Atkins, who each finished with double figures. Gill posted 11 points and 6 rebounds, the 11th time in the past 14 games he had at least 10 points. Atkins, meanwhile, wrapped up his career with 10 points and 14 rebounds. He reached double figures in six of his last nine games and tallied his second career double-double in his final outing.

That duo had its own struggles too. Gill made 3 of 9 shots, while Atkins made 4 of 10. They contributed 11 of the team’s 18 offensive rebounds. As a result, the Wahoos took 17 more shots than the Spartans, but even that wasn’t enough to overcome the cold day on offense.

“We couldn’t hit any shots and it builds up,” Atkins said. “The more you miss, the more added pressure you have on your next possessions to get points. It causes frustration and panic.”

That frustration eventually turned into a forlorn locker room.

Eventually that sting may wear off and allow the Wahoos to appreciate their accomplishments this season. They became the first team from outside of North Carolina to win outright ACC Regular Season Championships in consecutive years and became the first ACC team other than Duke or UNC to claim 30 wins in back-to-back seasons as well. That allowed this team to once again tie the school record for victories. Virginia also won an NCAA Tournament game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95.

“It stings right now, of course, with the finality of the season after you had a heck of a year with these guys and what they’ve done,” Bennett said. “It just leaves that feeling that you wish you could have taken it further. But it doesn’t take away, once the dust settles what this team accomplished. We give thanks for that but certainly learn from what took place.”

Final Stats