Colorado-Michigan State Preview

March 19, 2003

GAME: No. 10 Colorado (20-11) vs. No. 7 Michigan State (19-12).
REGIONAL: South, first round.
TIME: Friday, 7:10 p.m. EST.
SITE: St. Pete Times Forum; Tampa, Fla.

Colorado received an at-large bid largely on the strength of its play at home. The Buffaloes will try to capitalize with an upset at a neutral site.

The No. 10 Buffaloes return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years - and just the second time in 34 - when they face No. 7 Michigan State in the South Regional.

Colorado was 14-1 at home, including 8-0 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes beat Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State at the Coors Events Center, which was enough to make them a worthy candidate for their first bid since 1997.

Before that, Colorado hadn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1969.

The Buffaloes still don't have an impressive win away from home this season, but a victory Friday night would definitely take care of that.

Colorado won five straight games at the end of the regular season before losing to eventual champion Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament. The Buffaloes' strength is a balanced starting lineup that has four players averaging in double figures, led by Michel Morandais' 17.0 points per game.

The game against the Sooners was a good test for Friday's matchup, as Oklahoma and Michigan State are both physical teams whose strength is their defense.

"We're not going to see anything we haven't seen," Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said. "We've played physical teams and we've played teams with good point play and teams with good post play. It's just time to turn it up a notch."

Michigan State earned its sixth straight NCAA bid by also winning five of its last six. The Spartans reached the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Ohio State.

Though the Spartans were inconsistent during the season, they had some of their best performances against good teams. Michigan State handed Kentucky one of its two losses and lost by two points to Oklahoma, another No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"That's definitely the reason Coach schedules the teams we play," sophomore guard Chris Hill said. "We played two No. 1's, beat one of them and lost to the other by two points. So we should be ready."

Hill is the top scorer for Tom Izzo's team, averaging 14.0 points. Izzo has the best tournament record among active coaches at 16-4.

The winner advances to play second-seeded Florida or No. 15 Sam Houston State in the second round. A Michigan State-Florida matchup would be a rematch of the 2000 NCAA tournament championship game, won by the Spartans.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Colorado - F Stephane Pelle, F Blair Wilson, C David Harrison, G Morandais, G Antoine McGee.
Michigan State - F Aloysius Anagonye, F Paul Davis, G Alan Anderson, G Hill, G Kelvin Torbert.

TEAM LEADERS:
Colorado - Morandais, 17.0 ppg; Pelle, 9.4 rpg; James Wright, 3.8 apg.
Michigan State - Hill, 14.0 ppg and 3.7 apg; Anagonye, 5.4 rpg.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:
Colorado - At-large berth; Big 12.
Michigan State - At-large berth, Big Ten.

ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD:
Colorado - 9-11, 9 years.
Michigan State - 33-15, 16 years.