Michigan State 72, Temple 61 (3/20/08)
No longer a one-man show, Michigan State hopes its deeper bench will lead to a long run in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Raymar Morgan led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and the Spartans beat Temple 72-61 Thursday in the first round of the South Regional despite a sudden shooting slump from spark plug Drew Neitzel.
Last year, Neitzel was the Spartans’ only option on offense. Now, he’s got scorers swarming all around. Chris Allen scored 12 points and fellow freshmen Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers each added eight for fifth-seeded Michigan State, which will face the Pittsburgh-Oral Roberts winner Saturday at the Pepsi Center.
“There were nine or 10 guys that were responsible for this win,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.