Through Their Eyes: DOWN AND FOULED OUT

Here's an article from the Daily Trojan about MSU's Sunday evening victory:

For a USC men’s basketball team that looked as though it had started anew in the postseason, it was an old problem that ultimately served as the Trojans’ undoing.

Saddled with fouls, USC junior Taj Gibson was held to three points before fouling out of Sunday’s game against Michigan State with 5:38 remaining.

Although the Trojans kept it close without their top post player, the Spartans held on in the final two minutes for a 74-69 win in Minneapolis and a berth to the Sweet 16.

Two years ago, it was Gibson’s foul trouble that allowed North Carolina to break away from the Trojans and advance to the Elite 8. His fouls last year against Kansas State were also one of USC’s many problems in the team’s opening-round loss to the Wildcats.

On Sunday, the Trojans once again watched their season end as their man in the middle sat on the bench.
After posting a perfect 10-for-10 performance from the field in the opening round against Boston College, the junior forward from Brooklyn missed both field goal attempts and went 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Gibson maintained his presence on the defensive end by recording five blocks, but the Trojans’ offense was forced to adapt to a physical Spartan defense.

“They did a fine job on him in the minutes that he had,” USC coach Tim Floyd said in the postgame press conference. “I thought that was a real key to the game.”

USC shot 40 percent from the field but went 1-of-10 from three-point range. The Trojans were also outrebounded, 34-24, by the Spartans, who lead the country in rebounding margin. 

Junior guard Dwight Lewis led USC in scoring with 19 points while freshman forward DeMar DeRozan added 18 points.

Michigan State’s Travis Walton surprised many by finishing with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. As the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year, Walton had not been known as one of Michigan State’s top offensive threats. Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas was the early focus for USC’s defense, which came out in a box-and-one scheme designed to bottle up the Spartans’ leading scorer. 
But Walton found himself open for much of the night and repeatedly drained mid-range jumpers on USC.

“Walton played exceptionally well for them,” Floyd said. “He surprised us with his ability to make 17-foot jump shots.”

Never trailing by more than six points, USC had its chances to top the favored Spartans. With 1:56 left in the game, junior guard Daniel Hackett stole the ball and had a chance to tie the game but lost the ball on his way to the basket. 

“The ball just slipped out of my hands. It was unfortunate, that’s all I can tell you,” Hackett said.

Lucas secured the ball, and Michigan State’s Goran Suton was fouled by freshman Nikola Vucevic on a disputed call to send the senior center to the line with 1:13 remaining.
Suton hit both free throws to give Michigan State a four-point lead.

Despite the errors, Floyd said his team did not give the game away.

“The foul trouble did not beat us,” he said. “We got beat by a very good Michigan State team.”