Travis Walton came into the first round of the NCAA Tournament knowing full well the importance of a team’s sixth man. He went out Thursday at the Pepsi Center and proved just how indispensable he was as Michigan State rolled to a 72-61 victory over Temple to advance into Saturday’s second round against Pittsburgh.
“Every great team has five good players and a good sixth and seventh man,” said Walton, a 6-foot-2 junior guard. “Five players can’t play the whole game of basketball because you get tired out.”
Walton played 26 minutes, the most of any Michigan State reserve. When he entered the game, his defensive assignment was Temple’s touted Dionte Christmas, who led the Owls in scoring this season (20.2). With Walton taking over on Christmas, MSU coach Tom Izzo moved Raymar Morgan to guard Mark Tyndale, Temple’s other main scoring threat.
The defensive blanket worked so well that Christmas was held to three points, his only bucket coming on a layup with 13:27 left. Tyndale finished with 16 points, most coming after the Spartans built a double-digit margin in the second half.
“Once I get into the game, they usually want me on the other team’s best player,” Walton said. “You have to have your hands in his (Christmas) face against a player who can shoot the ball from NBA range and as fast as he can shoot. If you’re a scorer and not getting good shots, you might start forcing the issue a little bit. I thought it probably was our best defensive game.”
Christmas, 1-for-12 from the floor and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, said: “They took away the 3 and they took away the drive. That was the toughest defensive team I played against all of my career. I tried to do other things, set screens, get players open.”
Michigan State held Temple to 37.5 percent shooting.
“We did a heck of a job on Christmas,” Izzo said. “We couldn’t quite contain Tyndale down the stretch. But I thought defensively, for the most part, we were as good as we’ve been in a long time. The credit goes to our defense and Raymar Morgan’s all-around play.”
Morgan had a team-high 15 points, with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
