Toughness the key to Sweet 16 victories
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Halfway through the Sweet 16, ugly is in and finesse is out
OK, so Iowa State doesn't struggle to score that often, and Michigan
State seems to find the on switch to its offense in the second halves of games. But the concurrent
themes running through the Cyclones, Spartans and West Region bullies Purdue
and Wisconsin are defense, rebounding and hard work.
|  | | Mark Vershaw strips the ball away from LSU's Jabari Smith, just part of Wisconsin's badgering defense. |
Thursday's games shows there's a place for the
unheralded, slow, plodding, physical, skilled and patient player in the
NCAA Tournament.
These four teams are not littered with high-profile, high-flying players who made names for themselves in AAU summer leagues. They are the forgotten players who tough-guy coaches
like Tom Izzo, Larry Eustachy, Dick Bennett and Gene Keady end up getting to play exactly the way they want.
"This shows that the basketball world has gotten smaller," Bennett said after the Badgers' victory over LSU set up Wisconsin's fourth game this season against Purdue -- this time for a trip to the Final Four.
"There is room for different styles, and this tournament proves that," Bennett said.
LSU center Jabari Smith said Wednesday that the Tigers knew what to
expect against Wisconsin because they played Auburn and Arkansas. Not quite.
The Tigers may have led the SEC in field-goal percentage defense and
rebounding, but pressure defense in the SEC doesn't compare to the physical,
in-your-face defense that Wisconsin threw at the Tigers.
Big Ten officials call games tight. NCAA officials don't. The result
is that teams like Wisconsin and Purdue were allowed to play their style of defense. Open shots were a foreign concept for Gonzaga and LSU. Second-chance points were nearly as nonexistent.
"We don't have a lot of teams that score in our conference,"
Wisconsin's Jon Bryant said. "They all play great defense. We're used to
this style of play. It's hard. It's Big Ten basketball. We're all tough
teams."
Wisconsin limited LSU to 14 first-half points and forced the Tigers into 23 turnovers for the game. Purdue dominated Gonzaga in second-chance points and easy looks at the basket, and on the boards. Michigan State outrebounded Syracuse, got Etan Thomas in foul trouble and pulled away, shutting out the Orangemen over the final 5:54. Iowa State outrebounded UCLA, shut down Dan Gadzuric inside and made JaRon Rush and Jason Kapono non-factors on the perimeter.
"All those teams that won (Thursday) play great defense and are tough," LSU assistant Kermit Davis Jr. said. "We couldn't get anything out there."
Saturday's West and Midwest regional finals won't be pretty. They may not
be very entertaining to watch. But they'll be played at an intensity level unmatched this season. The last time Purdue and Wisconsin played,
point guards Carson Cunningham (Purdue) and Mike Kelley (Wisconsin) left the
floor with bloody faces. Iowa State and Michigan State may not be as brutal,
but the Spartans and Cyclones may find it hard to avoid a tussle.
College basketball opened up Thursday to include the disciplined, patient and tough player and coach. All are the basics of the game, making it perfectly appropriate that two of these teams will be in Indianapolis next week, where the game still rules.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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