Spartans almost -- almost -- underdogs against Northern Iowa

ST. LOUIS - Can that plucky team scratch out one more win in the NCAA men's basketball tournament tonight?

Can those formerly unheralded scrappers muster more late-game heroics and continue to extend its season?

I'm talking about Michigan State, of course, the team that emerged from nowhere to shock the world so far in this year's NCAAs.

OK, that's laying it on as thick as a Ted Drewes concrete frozen custard, a St. Louis institution that is a gift from the ice cream gods. But the Spartans, tri-champions of the Big Ten and near-permanent residents in the Sweet 16, are mere 1-point favorites over Northern Iowa Friday in the Edward Jones Dome.

That's Michigan State, making its ninth Sweet 16 appearance in the last 13 years, fresh off an appearance in last year's national-title game.

That's Northern Iowa, which is, uh, Northern Iowa. It's never before played basketball in an NFL stadium, never before had this much on the line.

And it's being called a basic coin-flip in Las Vegas. MSU was a 1-point pick in most Vegas sportsbooks as of Thursday night.

That's respect for UNI, which was an 11.5-point underdog against Kansas left Saturday. And, it's respect for Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas, whose season ended Sunday with a torn Achilles tendon. With a healthy Lucas, I'd wager the Spartans would be favored by four or five points.

Michigan State played the second-half without Lucas in their second-round NCAA game against Maryland Sunday, yet won, 85-83. Sophomore guard Korie Lucious swished a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and the Terrapins.

“I felt like we earned the win,” MSU Coach Tom Izzo said, “but I thought we were lucky to win the way it ended.

“So we're going to have to play without Kalin. And sometimes you can get by in half of a game. But then the next week, when a team gets the game plan for you, without him it becomes harder.”

“It's huge,” said Spartans forward Raymar Morgan. “Just because he's our leading scorer. He's a great distributor on the floor.

“But without him, the show must still go on.”

Which you know it will. Is there a coach or a program you would less like to meet in this situation than Izzo and the Spartans? They may lack Kentucky or Syracuse talent, but to them, March means “March onward.”

“There's just something about March,” Izzo said. “There's something about practicing in Michigan and it's still light after practice. That means you're practicing in March, the right time of year.

“This is it. You lay it on the line. You do it. If it's bad game or my bad play or whatever, whatever. . . . But you're going home.”

Michigan State leads the nation in rebound margin, with nine more per game than its foes. It's also very high nationally in assist/turnover ratio, field goal percentage, and other good statistical stuff.

But where the Spartans have that 1-point edge in oddsmakers' minds, probably, is the been-here/done-this factor.

One can only imagine what the last six days have been like for the Panthers since they won millions of hearts and busted as many brackets with their victory over Kansas.

UNI radio play-by-play man Gary Rima alone was on the other side of the mike for 24 phone interviews from around America this week. The Panthers' players have been phoned, texted, back-patted and basically drooled upon all week. Can they get the ground back under their feet in order to do more of the voodoo that they do?

This week, UNI guard Ali Farokhmanesh has probably answered a reporter's question for every 3-pointer he has launched in practice.

“It's been a lot of fun and overwhelming at times,” Farokhmanesh said.

UNI's five starters were brought to the tournament's interview room in the Jones Dome Thursday for 15 more minutes of questioning. The moderator asked Farokhmanesh to given an opening statement, catching the guard off-guard, and amusing his teammates.

“I think we're just happy to be in St. Louis,” Farokhmanesh said. “That's it.”

Two weeks ago today, the Panthers were beating Drake in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in the Scottrade Center, a mile from this dome.

But this thing Friday night, this is much more than one mile and two weeks from that. Win tonight, and UNI pours another Ted Drewes-thick layer of luster on its shiny, new national profile.

“We feel like we can compete with anyone,” Panther point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe said.

That has been established. Now, it's a matter of doing it all over again.