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Sporting News, The, March 23, 1998 by Steve Harrison

This weekend, eight teams in four regions will cram a week's worth of videotape and study into a day and a half. As Michigan State's coaching staff showed in its scurry to prep for Princeton, it's no problem--as long as you never relax.

In the joyful Michigan State locker room, everyone asks: How did the Spartans do it? How did they stop the team that couldn't be stopped?

Unfortunately, bedlam rules. Answers are rare.

In one quiet corner, however, associate head coach Tom Crean patiently explains how the Spartans just advanced to the Sweet 16. What they did on defense, he says, was to try and defend everything--inside and out.

Crean then sees the reporter who had just followed Michigan State's frantic preparation for the past day and a half. It's time to boast, time to lose it, like a his players.

"DID YOU SEE IT? DID YOU SEE IT?" Crean screams. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU? HAPPENED JUST LIKE WE THOUGHT!"

What happened, actually, was the climax of a coaching wonder. Like 31 other teams last weekend and as eight Will do this weekend, Michigan State had to prepare for its second opponent in less than two days. Thirty-nine hours, to be exact. But for head coach Tom Izzo, the Spartans' task last weekend was compounded, for its opponent was perhaps the hardest team in college basketball to prepare for: Princeton.

To the Spartans, Princeton's famed myriad cuts and passes were like seeing a horse and buggy on the freeway. Michigan State would beat the Tigers, 63-56, last Saturday to set up a game against North Carolina on Thursday. But the day before that win, Friday the 13th, was the real game.

That was the day to second-, third- and fourth-guess yourself. To obsess over the smallest details, like whether the team bus is leaving for the arena too early, whether the lanes at the Hartford Civic Center are painted. To watch tape. Lots of tape. Sleep? What's that?

"If we had just shown up and told our guys to play, there's no way we would have won," Crean says. "No way."

Thursday

11:41 p.m.: Thanks to freshman Charlie Bell, who celebrated his 19th birthday with 22 points, the Hartford Civic Center scoreboard says Michigan State 83, Eastern Michigan 71. The pundits were sure 13th-seeded Eastern and its Lilliputian point guard, Earl Boykins, would claim the upset The pundits were wrong.

Antonio Smith, Michigan State's 6-8, 250-pound rock, tells reporters the Spartans "will have to stay focused" against Princeton. Mateen Cleaves, with ice on his knees, says Princeton "has a great coach" and "they're very smart."

One of Izzo's first worries is whether his guys truly believe what they say. Do they really respect the Tigers? UNLV players said similar things before facing Princeton in the first round.

Vegas got drilled.

Friday

12:15 am.: The team bus barrels down I-84 in the dark, and Izzo, riding shotgun, won't stop smiling. He also won't stop saying how hard it is to prepare for anyone--much less Princeton--in a day. He's right: Princeton's players have few discernable tendencies, except to kick your butt.

But for the moment, Princeton can wait. He's savoring survival. This is his first NCAA Tournament as a head coach, and he beat himself up wondering whether he was preparing his team properly, because he knows there is no perfect way to prepare. He laughs about the Big Ten's first conference tournament which was supposed to cure the league's postseason woes. Bull, Izzo says.

The Spartans' last NCAA trip--a disastrous first-round loss to Weber State--was three years ago when Izzo was an assistant to Jud Heathcote. Most of Izzo's players are tournament rookies, and in a way, so is he. Izzo, 43, used to play in the backcourt at Iron Mountain (Mich.) High with San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, one of his best friends today. A blue-collar guy who stands about 5-11, Izzo is a fighter who likes the underdog role. In fact his squad was picked eighth in the Big Ten and finished tied for first.

When the team gets off the bus, the band is waiting in the lobby of the Marriott in Farmington. Along with a few alums, they clap and sing the fight song. Izzo soaks it all in, knowing he and his team did it Together. "In this business, you know what this win does?" Izzo says. "It gets the monkey off your back for one game."

1:15 a.m.: In suite 439, Izzo's wife, Lupe, comes out of the bedroom to bug her husband Then she disappears. Now its just Izzo, his coaches and the players in their green and black warmups, sitting in sofas and chairs.

"How many saw the game tonight?" Izzo asks about the Princeton-UNLV game. No one says much. They saw a half or less.

Izzo raises his voice. His smile vanishes.

"They are very good," he says. "They're more athletic than I thought There's going to be constant movement out there--back picks, front picks. We're going to have to fight all game."

Defense has carried the Spartans all year. It must do so again Saturday. "I have two words for you to remember: Never relax"

Never relax. It will be the mantra of the next day and a half

1:20 a.m.: Izzo is walking through the hotel with an old friend, Tommy Massimino, Rollie's son. Massimino lives near Hartford and when he saw the bracket, he called Izzo and told him he was coming.