Saturday night at the Pepsi Center was made for mouthpieces and muscles.
Screens were brick walls. Guards were ridden around the perimeter by clingy defenders. Cutters were bumped through the lane. Forearms and elbows were post players’ best friends. Layups had to be taken, because they surely weren’t given.
Only Notre Dame wasn’t up to Olivia Newton-John Night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was physical. Only the strongest — Washington State and Michigan State — survived to move on to the Sweet 16.
“We didn’t yield,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said after his team’s 61-41 destruction of Notre Dame. “We didn’t let them get easy shots. We made them earn (them) all night.”
Washington State’s undercard gave way to the main event, the black-and- blue slugfest between Michigan State and Pittsburgh. In his pregame address, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told his players they needed to be prepared for a heavyweight match, that the tougher team would prevail.
The Spartans proved to be just that. Bodies hit each other repeatedly, and hit the floor occasionally. In the end, Michigan State simply wore down the Panthers, 65-54.
“Pittsburgh is one of the most physical teams in the country,” Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel said. “We did a great job of matching their physical play. We stayed aggressive and didn’t back down.”
The Panthers fielded questions all week long about their tough reputation. They backed it up on Thursday by battering Oral Roberts, which prepared for the game by turning loose the scout team on the regulars, telling them to slap, hit, grab and pull as much as possible.
“They sort of hit you in the mouth,” said ORU’s Andre Hardy of Pittsburgh afterward. “And you got to, you know, wipe the blood out of your mouth and hit them back.”
Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon preaches toughness and grit.
“It’s physicality and banging with people, not being afraid of contact,” Dixon said. “But it’s also getting through adversity. Toughness is doing everything you can defensively and doing everything right, then they hit a shot, they make a tough shot, and coming back and believing and doing it the next time with the same intensity, the same awareness and the same commitment.”
Yet, Michigan State stood up, and Pittsburgh had no answer. This is, after all, a program Izzo has made famous for practicing in football helmets and pads to toughen them up.
“You can’t be afraid to get hit,” MSU junior guard Travis Walton said. “Being physical, you got to be able to hit somebody else and take a hit at the same time. That’s Michigan State basketball, and that’s pretty much Pittsburgh basketball, too.
“Nobody on their team and nobody on our team is afraid to get hit with an elbow or a bump. Anything goes. That’s physical basketball. That’s what we play, and that’s what they play.”
And tournament time turns up the heat.
Whatever passed for physical, hard play during the regular season gets bumped up a few notches when it’s win or go home. Michigan State thrives in this pressure cooker, and on Saturday night dished out a far greater number of hits.
Pitt forward Sam Young’s first drive of the game resulted in a bump, a trip, and him landing face first on the hardwood. A couple minutes later, Pitt’s Keith Benjamin was flattened as he battled for a rebound. Pitt’s DeJuan Blair hit the deck halfway through the first half as he attempted a hook shot.
The Spartans? They had their moments but they made all the big plays, led by Neitzel, who scored eight consecutive points to give Michigan State a five-point lead with four minutes left.
With Michigan State leading 59-52, Neitzel and Kalin Lucas combined to deliver the final blow. Neitzel reached in to redirect Pitt guard Levance Fields, who found himself slamming directly into Lucas. The ref called a charge and Fields ended up on the floor writhing in pain.
Neitzel, too, got pushed around. He was dumped on a play early in the second half after getting a jumper blocked. But the night belonged to the Spartans. And, unofficially, they won the roughest team on the block award, as well.
“The question is, could we be as physical as them? Who’s going to win that type of game?” Walton said. “We did a great job.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
