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	<channel>		<title>RUWT? News</title>
		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for USC vs. Michigan State 3/22/2009</description>
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		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:46:11 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:46:11 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Walton helps Michigan State reach regional semis]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- An unexpected scoring binge from the Big 
Ten's defensive player of the year propelled Michigan State to a
familiar place.

Travis Walton scored a career-high 18 points to lift the 
second-seeded Spartans to a 74-69 victory over 10th-seeded USC 
on Sunday in the Midwest Regional, putting Michigan State in the
round of 16 for the eighth time in 12 years.

"I was shocked that he did make some of those shots," coach Tom 
Izzo said of Walton, who entered the game averaging 4.9 points 
and was shut out against Robert Morris in the first round.

Durell Summers added 11 points and eight rebounds for the 
Spartans (28-6), who have advanced to the regional semifinals 
more times in the last dozen years than any team besides Duke.

They'll play third-seeded Kansas on Friday in Indianapolis.

Dwight Lewis scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points 
for USC (22-13), which is starting to look like more than just a
football school under coach Tim Floyd.

Raymar Morgan calls Michigan State's backcourt of Walton and Big
Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas "Fire and Ice," with Lucas 
providing the heat on offense and Walton cooling down the 
opposing team's top perimeter threat on the other end of the 
floor.

"You look at me as a defensive stopper, but I've been practicing
my shot," Walton said. "Kalin put the ball in my hands. I had 
high confidence when I shot them and they went in."

Walton hadn't scored in double figures since he had 11 against 
Kansas on Jan. 10. But with the offense sputtering and the 
Trojans attacking, the senior could not have picked a better 
time to come through.

Floyd worried that the lack of depth -- three Trojans played all
40 minutes and star Taj Gibson played 36 against Boston College 
-- would hinder them against Michigan State, which goes 10 deep.
Gibson fouled out with 5:38 to play, but these kids showed 
plenty of California cool even without their leader on the 
floor.

Lewis scored six straight points for the Trojans, including two 
free throws that tied the game at 69 with less than 4 minutes to
go.

Walton drilled his third tie-breaking jumper of the final 10 
minutes on the other end. After Daniel Hackett lost the ball on 
a drive to the basket, Nikola Vucevic was whistled for a 
questionable foul on Goran Suton. Floyd flopped to the court in 
fury, but Suton made both free throws for a 73-69 lead with 1:19
to go.

Lewis and Hackett missed 3-pointers on the other end and the 
Trojans missed their final nine shots from the field to help the
Spartans survive.

After going a perfect 10-for-10 with 24 points and six rebounds 
in the Trojans' opening-round victory over BC on Friday, Gibson 
scored just three points with no rebounds and five blocks in 23 
minutes.

With USC out, the Pac-10 only has one team remaining in the 
field in Arizona. California, Washington, UCLA and Arizona State
also failed to make it out of the first weekend, making it the 
first time since 2004 that at least two Pac-10 teams aren't in 
the round of 16.

But the best may be yet to come for these Trojans, who have 
appeared in a school-record three straight NCAA tournaments. 
DeRozan, Leonard Washington (10 points, seven rebounds) and 
Vucevic (six points, four boards in 22 minutes) are freshmen. If
Hackett, Lewis and Gibson return for their senior years and 
DeRozen sticks around, the Trojans will be loaded.

"I'm really proud of them," Floyd said. "We're a team that has 
talent, and it's young talent. ... If there's some way we can 
keep them together, we have a chance to be a very special team."

For Walton, there is no next year.

In the last 12 years, every Spartan who has stayed four years 
has played in a Final Four.

Now, thanks to his 8-for-13 shooting, Michigan State has a 
chance to keep that impressive and treasured statistic going.

"I was surprised. I am sure Tim was," Izzo said. "I am sure 
their players were. I am sure, if you are honest, our players 
were. Because he really hasn't shot the ball well lately."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92322-Walton-helps-Michigan-State-reach-regional-semis</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92322-Walton-helps-Michigan-State-reach-regional-semis</guid>
				<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:42:35 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
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				<title><![CDATA[USC braces for battle with Michigan State]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By Jon Krawczynski
AP Sports Writer

(10) Michigan State (22-12_ vs. (2) Michigan State (27-6), 5:00 p.m. EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- In NCAA tournaments past, a matchup between 
the Big Ten and Pac-10 usually meant contrasting styles.

In the Big Ten, a pair of brass knuckles often would get you 
further than a silky smooth jumper.

In the Pac-10, freewheeling finesse was preferred to football on
the hardwood.

But when second-seeded Michigan State plays 10th-seeded USC on 
Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Regional, don't expect
any floating and stinging from the Pac-10 tournament champions. 
These teams are a lot closer than the 2,200 miles that separates
the two campuses.

The Trojans have made a renewed commitment to defense and 
rebounding since Tim Floyd took over as coach four seasons ago. 
The former Iowa State coach has injected this Hollywood squad 
with some toughness from the heartland, and it has never been 
more evident than in USC's six-game winning streak.

"We have determined defenders, like Tom (Izzo) does," Floyd said
of the Spartans coach. "I don't know that they are as good as 
Tom's. I've never seen five guys sustain a stance like they 
sustain a stance. Sincerely beautiful to watch, how hard they 
play."

That's nothing new for Michigan State.

The Spartans have made their name on the defensive end for 
decades, starting with Jud Heathcote, the dean of the old 
school. He passed the philosophy to Izzo, who continues to make 
defense and rebounding as much a part of Michigan State's 
identity as green and white.

"Both teams play phenomenal defense," USC forward Taj Gibson 
said. "Our coach stresses us to rebound the ball and, as you 
look at them, they are one of the top rebounding teams in the 
country."

Michigan State leads the nation with a plus-10.3 rebounding 
margin, but doesn't hesitate to get out and run, either. Speedy 
Kalin Lucas leads the break with Travis Walton and Raymar Morgan
on the wings to get easy buckets off outlet passes from Goran 
Suton on the block.

Ditto the Trojans, who have five athletic starters who are 
6-foot-5 or taller, and all of them love to attack the rim.

After slogging through the Big Ten season while dealing with 
Morgan's walking pneumonia and Suton's sore knees, the Spartans 
showed they are ready to roll with a dominant effort against 
15th-seeded Robert Morris on Friday night.

Morgan converted an alley-oop pass to put Michigan State on the 
board just 4 seconds into the game, and the Spartans 
outrebounded the Colonials 49-28 and outscored them 44-20 in the
paint.

"I think our teams are similar," Izzo said. "They have been 
playing their best basketball the last four, five, six games, 
and I am not sure we're there yet, to be very honest with you. 
But I think it's exciting to think that maybe we could get 
there. And yet the unknown makes it a little bit difficult."

Floyd has watched his young team's confidence soar during their 
recent success -- the school's first Pac-10 tourney title and a 
win against seventh-seeded Boston College in the first round.

With Marcus Simmons shutting down another super-quick point 
guard in BC's high-scoring Tyrese Rice, the Trojans limited the 
Eagles to just six field goals in the second half and held them 
to a season-low 32.7 percent shooting for the game.

After the 72-55 victory, USC forward Leonard Washington wore a 
gash under his eye like a badge of honor.

"I caught an elbow, it split me open," Washington said. "Instead
of getting stitches, I got it glued up."

A remedy right out of the Heathcote's medicine cabinet, no 
doubt.

It was the 14th time this season USC held an opponent to 60 
points or less. The Spartans have done it 16 times, though they 
did it in the offensively challenged Big Ten.

"I do see a little similarity between the way we play," Walton 
said. "I know they run opportunities when they can get them, and
lately they have been playing pretty good defense and rebounding
the ball really good. That's been kind of their key to winning.

"We do the same thing, and that's been our key, rebounding and 
defense."

If one team holds an advantage, it would appear to be Michigan 
State with its depth. Izzo routinely plays 10 players and not 
one of them logged more than 25 minutes in the game against 
Robert Morris.

Floyd doesn't have that luxury. Dwight Lewis, star freshman 
DeMar DeRozan and Daniel Hackett, who played all 120 minutes in 
the Pac-10 tourney, never sat down against BC. Gibson, who went 
10-for-10 and scored 24 points, got only four minutes of rest.

"When it's do-or-die and guys just want to win games, the 
fatigue doesn't matter," Gibson said. "You just want to go out 
there and play hard, because there's always time to ice down and
time for rest. But these memories last forever."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92248-USC-braces-for-battle-with-Michigan-State</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92248-USC-braces-for-battle-with-Michigan-State</guid>
				<pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:34:03 GMT</pubDate>
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