'What a war': Michigan State enters the Sweet 16 strong

COLUMBUS, Ohio — They staggered through the tunnel at Nationwide Arena like a boxer and trainer in the aftermath of a blood-spilling brawl. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was a step ahead, the aging-yet-ageless spitfire leaving yet another NCAA Tournament triumph in his wake. Athletic director Alan Haller was a step behind, the former Spartan football player-turned-administrator.

"What a war," Izzo said as he half-walked, half-shuffled toward the Michigan State locker room.

"That’s who we are," Haller said as he clapped Izzo on the back.

"What a war," Izzo repeated.

Left in their wake was another Izzo special from the month in which he’s made his name, this time a 69-60 triumph over second-seeded Marquette to secure his 26th NCAA Tournament win by nine points or fewer, a testament to the unbreakable will he demands from his players.

In the Golden Eagles — winners of both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles — Michigan State found a willing partner for a street fight disguised as a basketball game. There were 37 fouls and 37 free throws, 29 turnovers and 12 steals. That the Spartans prevailed while shooting 2-for-16 from 3-point range, even as Marquette buried 11 triples, underscored just how many body blows Izzo & Co. absorbed.

They won with 23 points from Tyson Walker and 27 more from Joey Hauser and A.J. Hoggard combined. They needed every one of the 20 rebounds corralled by Hauser and Mady Sissoko. They made 19 of 23 free throws and iced the game by sinking five out of six in the final minute. They took the lead when Walker buried a jumper with 8:52 remaining and withstood everything Marquette hurled at them the rest of the way.

"That was a 2000 game; that felt like Mateen Cleaves," Izzo said in reference to the year he guided Michigan State to a national title — and that team’s All-American point guard. "It was a physical game."

It also marked the second time in two days that Cleaves’ name had surfaced in a news conference at Nationwide Arena. The first came Saturday afternoon, in between the first and second rounds of the tournament, when Marquette head coach Shaka Smart explained the origin of his admiration for what Izzo has built in East Lansing.

He shared a story about his first year in coaching as a 22-year-old assistant at California University of Pennsylvania. Smart was a few months removed from the end of his playing career at Division III Kenyon College in Ohio and entered the profession unsure if it was the right career path. But as the season progressed, Smart found himself captivated by the way Cleaves led Michigan State to a Big Ten Tournament title and, three weeks later, the national championship with an 89-76 win over Florida. Cleaves scored 18 points and dished out four assists to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

"And that, for me, was a moment that cemented in my mind college basketball was where I wanted to be," Smart said Friday. "So I've always been a fan of Coach Izzo and his program and the way they play and the way they conduct themselves. And for us, it's a heck of an opportunity to compete against them tomorrow night."

The team he brought to Columbus was one of the best in college basketball all season. Marquette rollicked through a brutal Big East schedule with a 17-3 conference record and an offense that ranked sixth in the country for efficiency. Point guard Tyler Kolek (13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists per game) was named the conference’s Player of the Year, and forward David Joplin (9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds per game) was honored as the Big East’s Sixth Man of the Year.

When the Golden Eagles thumped Vermont 78-61 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, they set a new school record with 29 wins in a single season.

They rolled into Sunday with an unmissable air of confidence that was tinged, perhaps, with arrogance. Smart believed his team was capable of reaching the Final Four, and everything his players said and did seemed to match that expectation. Star shooting guard Kam Jones, who ripped off 18 consecutive points in the second half against Vermont, spent the final seconds before tipoff Sunday dancing in the center circle.

But a steal and score by guard Stevie Mitchell on the opening possession was nothing more than fool’s gold as the Spartans took control of the game with smothering defense and vicious offensive rebounding. They transformed seven offensive rebounds into 18 points in the paint that offset some heinous perimeter shooting (1-for-10 from 3-point range to begin the game). And they undercut Marquette’s offense by drawing two early fouls on Kolek, who spent large portions of the half on the bench as Michigan State built a 13-point lead.

"I think Michigan State's aggressiveness, their physicality affected us," Smart said. "It was a lot of plays we'd love to have back."

Throughout the season, Izzo never shied away from telling reporters how much he liked this team. He looked beyond its penchant for defensive lapses and streaky 3-point shooting, brushed aside the potential ramifications of a short bench and embraced the sense of togetherness and fight his players showed in glimpses. He was elated with how well his guards defended star Boogie Ellis in a suffocation of 10th-seeded USC on Friday, and then he made a point of saying success on that end of the floor is a choice rather than a skill. The Spartans could be an elite defensive and rebounding machine when they felt like it.

So, Izzo reveled in his team’s second consecutive blanketing of a high-level opponent as Michigan State punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time since he took over in 1995. He relished the idea of limiting Marquette, which scored with more efficiency inside the arc than all but four teams in college basketball, to a measly nine 2-pointers that Smart described as "probably a record-low for us." He delighted in watching his players instruct each other during a timeout in the final seconds, reminding one another to avoid the temptation of doubling in the post at the expense of wide-open perimeter shooters.

"And that's all you ask as a coach," Izzo said. "You ask that you grow, they grow. But it's kind of fun when players — I always said the best teams are the player-coached teams."

Which is why it was their turn to celebrate as the final buzzer sounded, a pro-Michigan State crowd bathing them in screams and yells and applause. They leaped off the bench and careened toward the opposite side of the court, toward the densest section of green-and-white fans, to rejoice in becoming the first — and, eventually, the only — Big Ten team to reach the Sweet 16, where they’ll play No. 3 Kansas State in New York on Thursday.

As the celebration began to calm, Izzo and Haller made their way through the underbelly of Nationwide Arena. The former wore the weight of a slugfest he described as being "as intense and tough a game as I’ve been [part of] in my career." The latter trembled with emotion when he reflected on everything that happened and everything it meant: finding ways to win when 3-point shots weren't falling; summoning elite-level toughness to grind through a physical opponent; extending an NCAA Tournament run five weeks after a routine semester was shattered by a gunman who killed three students and wounded five more.

"This is special," Haller told FOX Sports. "I mean, the win is great. But what this does for our community ... "

Haller’s voice trailed off as he paused for eight seconds, his throat catching, his nose sniffling.

"This is special for our community," he said. "We’ve been through a lot. It’s more than the win. This is a big piece of our healing for our community.

"We win it with who we are as Spartans. And it’s never easy for us, but we’re going to continue to fight, and we’re going to be standing there at the end of the game."

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.