Michigan State's national title dreams were shattered in the final four

The Spartans have experienced a fierce race, a fantastic season, since they have overcome all kinds of injuries.

But that ended with disappointment. The Spartans had an incredible opportunity to reach the national championship after defeating Duke and qualifying for the Final Four.

He was sitting right on the counter, but they could not grab it.

Not a night when the Spartans missed too many shots and returned too much without being able to stop the Red Raiders.

Part of the merit goes to Texas Tech's defense – a lot, really. Give them all the credit of the world.

MSU just learned what Michigan discovered a week ago – Texas Tech is a fantastic team with a championship defense.

But part of that was also on MSU.

MSU could not take advantage when Jarrett Culver, a future Texas Tech NBA player, had a big problem.

And MSU could not take advantage when striker Tariq Owens (Texas Tech) six feet out of ten limped off the field.

MSU's defense disappeared in the second half and Texas Tech made nine of its first 11 shots in the second half, including three to three consecutive points, creating a 45-33 lead.

However, the Spartans fought back.

They cut in the lead. Interesting fact.

But those blows would not fall.

And the season has escaped.

Quick departure

The Spartans came to attack the Texas Tech defense with a patient and deliberate approach, trying to get the ball inside and then wiping around the perimeter to get a 3-point open pointer.

It sounds fantastic when the ball is moving and shooting is falling.

And it works when the Spartans have the right composition in the field.

But big problems totally ruined the Spartans in the first half.

Nick Ward and Aaron Henry made two fouls in the first half.

The minutes passed without both teams scoring.

Rider missed. Defensive rebound. Block. 3 missed pointers. 3 missed pointers. Layup missed. Violation of the shooting clock.

And then, finally, the balloon squeezed between the rim and the back panel, which seemed like a fitting metaphor for that first half.

It was an excellent defense,

But it was also an ineffective offense.

At half-time, Texas Tech led 23-21, showing a wild similarity.

MSU fired 30.4%; Texas Tech shot down 30.8%

MSU had two players with two fouls; Texas Tech had two players with two fouls.

MSU created four 3 points, Texas Tech made four 3 points.

The largest advance of MSU was 5 and that of Texas Tech 5.

Great scene, indeed

In the United States, the lights went out and the lights on the cell phones lit up like a concert.
A student from the Michigan State, a student dressed in white.

And the crowd was huge.

What is lost on television is the enormity of it all. The size of the arena – the yard looks like putting a postage stamp in a big box.

The crowd.

"Have you ever seen a stadium like this?", I asked Gabe Brown earlier in the week.

"Never in my life," he said. It's just huge. I know that there will be so many people screaming and screaming. It's gonna be fun. Not intimidating. "

"Does it take a moment to see the edge, with the big space behind?"

"Growing up, there is a school near my home. Salin High School. Their gym is just like that. "

"What?"

"Not like that, it's smaller, but through the panel you can see people, stuff like that, it took a while to adapt, but I'm used to it.

Brown had a chance to influence this first semester. He had extra minutes after Aaron Henry came out with two fouls.

But Brown missed his first three 3 points.

I point it out, not to apologize. But to shed some light on what is this moment. It's bigger than life. This makes everything exaggerated. The joy of victory. And the pain of loss.

And that night, this defeat will stay with Izzo and these players for the rest of their lives.

One day, they will realize that it was an incredible feat just to go that far.

But it will also sting forever. Because this game was there to take it.

But they could not hit.