College Basketball|Once Again, Izzo Is One Step Away

For Tom Izzo's first 20 seasons at Michigan State, the achievement has been as inevitable as sunrise: every one of his senior classes reaches at least one Final Four. He discussed it with his team early in the year, back before all the injuries and the illnesses, but not since.

'I really didn't need that burden put on them,' Izzo said.

Now, he might. His Spartans are one victory from again playing on the last weekend of the N.C.A.A. tournament. They survived several cold spells and a smothering defensive effort by top-seeded Virginia to win, 61-59, at Madison Square Garden and advance to the East Region finals. Michigan State will play No. 7 Connecticut on Sunday.

Based solely on the seeding, No. 4 Michigan State's victory will be viewed an upset. But it was not. The Spartans, so beset by injuries that they were able to field their five primary starters in 19 of 37 games, are healthy now - healthy and diversified and dangerous.

Inside, they have Branden Dawson, who muscled his way to 24 points and 10 rebounds. And they have the versatile 6-foot-10 forward Adreian Payne, who had 16 points and seized control for the Spartans late.

The Men's Bracket

After a Justin Anderson 3-pointer evened the score at 51-51 with 1 minute 49 seconds remaining, Payne on consecutive possessions made a go-ahead 3-pointer and fed Branden Dawson for an alley-oop, putting the Spartans ahead 56-51. Joe Harris cut into the lead with a 3-pointer before Payne, facing a 1-and-1 at the foul line, made both shots. For people who enjoy scoring with their basketball, this game lacked appeal.

It sounds almost counterintuitive, what with Virginia being a No. 1 seed and all, but this was the Cavaliers' opportunity to prove their bona fides, that their accomplishments - winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and its tournament - portended postseason success and not a flameout. They did all of that Friday night, leading for stretches of the second half, exciting the thousands of orange-clad fans that took over the Garden, before succumbing late.

Only within the last two weeks has Michigan State started to resemble a team of championship timbre, that won 18 of its first 19 games, that featured the Spartans' most talent in more than a decade. They were defending better, rebounding better, shooting better.

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'Are we back to the team we were then? Probably not,' Izzo said, referring to their scorching start. 'But are we as close as we have been all year? Definitely.'

How, though, to pierce the Cavaliers' stifling defense, the stingiest in the nation, allowing an average of 55.5 points? The answer, early, was two-pronged. Michigan State teamed the inside-out game of Payne, who has deft low-post moves and the shooting range to match, with the inside presence of Dawson. Combining for 15 points, they propelled the Spartans to a 23-13 lead.

Michigan State swarmed the Cavaliers, obstructing every shot and denying clean looks. But as their shooting suffered, the Spartans' advantage evaporated as quickly as it swelled. Virginia capitalized on a Michigan State drought of nearly 6 minutes to score 12 straight points, taking its first lead of the game before going into halftime trailing by 31-27.

The Cavaliers raced out of intermission, scoring nine of the first 10 points before Michigan State recovered. The Spartans' most important shot for the Spartans was a go-ahead 3-pointer in transition by Travis Trice with 9:09 remaining.

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