Spartans Rule In "Cleavesland"
3/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2000
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) - As Michigan State headed home for its next NCAA tournament game, Utah coach Rick Majerus joked that he might make a trip to Nevada.
"There's a little gambling town not too far away," Majerus said. "If I go, I'm going to bet five bucks. I'm going to bet Michigan State to win it all. I've got them in every pool."
The NCAA wouldn't find Majerus very funny, but all kidding aside, the Spartans made quite an impression on Utah's coach during their 73-61 over the Utes on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
"We played as good as we can play," Majerus said. "They're just a special team and they've just got that look right now. It must be fun to coach them."
It sure is fun to watch Michigan State, the region's No. 1 seed, which this week will enjoy home-state advantage in the regional semifinals. The Spartans meet No. 4 seed Syracuse, a 52-50 winner over Kentucky, on Thursday in Auburn Hills, Mich. - about 80 miles from the East Lansing campus.
In their two wins at the Cleveland Convocation Center, the Spartans (28-7) unveiled all of their weapons: a blood-thirsty defense, solid outside shooting, relentless rebounders, and the best point guard in college basketball, Mateen Cleaves.
One Spartans fan said it all with a hand-painted sign that read: "Cleavesland, Ohio."
Cleaves made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points - 13 in the second half - to rally the Spartans, who trailed Utah by three at halftime. But Cleaves did more than score.
He ripped into some of his teammates at the half, telling them that he wasn't quite finished with his college career. Cleaves then went onto the floor like a man possessed, and at one point grabbed teammate Morris Peterson by the shorts to get his point across.
"It seemed like a demon came out of him," Peterson said.
Too small. Can't shoot. Kind of chubby. Overrated.
Cleaves has heard the knocks for four years. And just because the point guard has Michigan State deep into the NCAA tournament again, he doesn't expect the sniping to stop.
"I doubt it," he said. "But I can't care about what people say about my shot, my game. I'm here to help my team win."
Majerus gambled that Cleaves couldn't hit open shots, and got burned.
The Utes had just seven scholarship players available because of injuries. Majerus promised he'd throw some kind of defensive gimmick at the Spartans, whom he referred to as "equal-opportunity assassins."
But instead of using a gadget zone, Majerus had the Utes play man-to-man. He was intent on stopping forward Morris Peterson - MSU's best shooter - from beating the Utes from outside.
And Cleaves, who added five assists and one turnover in 36 minutes, made Utah pay, making four 3-pointers, including one that triggered a 27-7 run and a final one that put the Utes away.
"We picked our poison," Majerus said. "We tried to make Cleaves score. They've got three great 3-point shooters and he distributes. He's their fourth best shooter and you saw what he did. We liked our chances making him shoot and he did what he's supposed to do. ... Collegiately, he's as good as it gets."
Cleaves' fourth 3-pointer put the Spartans up by 14 points with 7:27 left. As he raced back on defense he punched his fists like a boxer sent to a neutral corner while waiting for his opponent to be counted out.
Standing nearby was the next challenger's center, Syracuse's senior Etan Thomas.
"That's his personality, that's the way he plays," said Thomas, who played with Cleaves on some all-star teams. "He gets guys fired up. That's why he's a great leader."
Majerus said Cleaves reminds him of another guard who led his team to a national title.
"I'm old," Majerus said. "I remember Quinn Buckner being a great college point guard because he found everybody on the court. This kid reminds me so much of him."
Buckner, now a TV commentator, led Indiana to the last perfect season in college basketball in 1976.
And although Michigan State's season won't be perfect, Majerus expects it to have the same ending as Indiana's.
He'd even bet on it.