Drew Neitzel is big. He’s 6-foot, but he’s big. As a four-year starter, he’s a big man on campus. As a two-time all-Big Ten pick, he’s a big scorer. As a scorer of only nine combined points in two losses down the stretch, he’s also a big enigma.
However, his Michigan State teammates know one thing about him.
“A big-time player is going to step up in big-time moments,” backup guard Travis Walton said. “He’s showing that he’s a big-time player and stepped up in a big-time moment for us.”
With his college career on the verge of extinction and his team riding him as far as he can take it, Neitzel was the biggest man in the only close game of the NCAA Tournament’s subregional at Pepsi Center. He scored 12 of his game-high 21 points, including three consecutive jumpers, in the final 6:25 on Saturday night to lift Michigan State to a 65-54 South Regional win over Pittsburgh.
In a subregional of yawning blowouts, this one had all the trappings of a nail-biter. Pitt was seeded fourth, ranked 17th and 27-9. Michigan State was seeded fifth, ranked 18th and 26-8. The Spartans came in with their coach questioning their toughness and a nation questioning Neitzel’s prowess in big games.
Both those questions were answered, and Michigan State heads to Friday’s Sweet 16 in Houston against today’s Mississippi State-Memphis winner.
With Michigan State taking every punch the bruising Panthers threw, it still only led 47-46 with seven minutes left. Then Neitzel, who was only 2-for-11 in Thursday’s win over Temple, hit two 3-pointers and a two-pointer from the top of the key.
Finally, the Spartans had some room to breathe.
“Throughout the year, I’ve gone through some ups and downs as far as my shooting,” Neitzel said. “I just changed my mind-set and have just been more aggressive. No matter if I miss five, 10 shots in a row, that’s what I got to do is keep shooting.”
Don’t blame Neitzel if he’s a little mental about shooting. The day he was born, his father put a hoop in the crib. To learn how to shoot with both hands as a kid he’d alternate hands while brushing and eating.
The Spartans felt he’d have a huge senior season when freshman Kalin Lucas arrived from Sterling Heights, Mich., allowing Neitzel to move from point guard to shooting guard. While his scoring surprisingly dropped from 18.1 points per game last year to 14.2, his early season tenativeness disappeared Saturday.
“He’s got to shoot it,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Those guys are starting to learn to get him the ball in the right spot. I’m telling you, if he’s open, he can knock them down. We’re still going to go as far as he takes us.”
Still, Neitzel would have been just another high-scoring loser if his teammates hadn’t gone toe-to-toe with Pitt. This was a year in which Michigan State lost twice to Wisconsin and to the dregs of the Big Ten such as Iowa and Penn State. In came Pitt, one of the biggest bruisers of the bruising Big East.
But Goran Suton, the Spartans’ plodding center, outplayed Sam Young, Pitt’s bruising all-Big East forward, and the Spartans won the rebound battle, 37-26. A swarming defense held Young to 4-for-12 shooting and one board, his lowest total of the year.
“We couldn’t put six eyes on him,” Izzo said, “but we put about 4 1/2.”
The Panthers shot only .327 (17-of-52), their third worst night of the season, and only guard Levance Fields’ 19 points and 18-for-19 foul shooting kept it close. Ahead 55-52, Lucas hit two layins and four Neitzel free throws iced it.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
