NCAA: Tennessee’s Prince on bench with 3 fouls; Magic Johnson on hand to cheer Spartans

NCAA: Tennessee’s Prince on bench with 3 fouls

J.P. Prince has been saluting more than the military.

He saluted the crowd after a breakaway layup, then saluted the scoring table after he went way upstairs to grab a toss toward the top of the backboard and slam it through.

Michigan State gave Prince a salute of its own. Twice the Spartans drove right at him and twice they picked up charging fouls, sending Prince to the bench with three of fouls for the game.

Michigan State has pulled into a 50-all tie with 15 minutes still to go.

Magic Johnson is in the crowd again to cheer on the Spartans.

There have been numerous books, documentaries and other programs released recently surrounding the 1979 national championship game between Johnson’s Spartans and Larry Bird-led Indiana State. Many consider it the defining moment when March became “March Madness.”

Among the treatises are Jackie MacMullen’s book, “When the Game Was Ours,” and an HBO documentary entitled, “Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals.”

Michigan State has gone on to more good things, including another national title. The Sycamores, well, they’ll always have Larry.

Butler coach Brad Stevens and forward Gordon Hayward, voted the most outstanding player of the West Regional, just got some face time during halftime of Michigan State-Tennessee.

Kansas coach Bill Self offered perhaps the best question when he asked them about the distractions that are sure to surround the Bulldogs’ first Final Four appearance.

Which happens to be five miles from their campus in Indianapolis.

“I know from a coaching standpoint we’re going to do it the exact same way we’ve prepared for any other week,” Stevens said. “We’re going to have the typical media availability, the film sessions are the same, the practice sessions are the same.

“These guys are mature enough to handle that.”

The Spartans played for the final shot in the first half, but Korie Lucious missed just about everything on a 3-pointer and Brian Williams swatted a putback try into the bleachers.

He should have kept the ball in play.

With just a couple seconds on the clock, Michigan State’s Draymond Green made a nice cut down the lane and took the inbounds pass right to the backboard for an easy layup at the buzzer. The Vols lead 41-39 after an interesting first half that seemed to breeze by.

Twenty minutes left in the Midwest Regional.

Michigan State and Tennessee are both known more for their defense than offense, which made their combined 16-for-20 start from the floor all the more surprising.

Well, they’re a combined 10 of 29 since then.

The two teams also hit their first eight 3-pointers, but have missed eight of them since. Five of those misses have been by the Spartans, who now have six turnovers and trail 39-37 with under a minute to go in the first half.

Tennessee was 239th in the nation in 3-point shooting during the regular season at 31.8 percent. So far, the Vols are 6 of 9 from long range.

Michigan State hit its first two from deep but has missed four straight since, and the Vols lead 37-35 with just over 2 minutes left in the opening half.

Wayne Chism has been trying to take charge. The Vols were lined up wrong for an inbounds play and he started yelling “Switch! Switch! Switch!”

They did, but Michigan State still stole the pass.

The Spartans had used a 9-2 spurt to take a 33-32 lead, but Tennessee scored to regain the lead. The frenetic pace of the first few minutes has slowed considerably, and the turnovers are starting to mount. Both teams have five of them.

Durrell Summers has been one of the biggest reasons that Michigan State is still playing.

The junior guard from Detroit averaged only about 10 points per game this season, but he’s been especially efficient since the NCAA tournament began. He scored 14 in the opening round, had 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting against Maryland, then had 19 against Northern Iowa.

The turnaround has coincided with a roughly two-hour conversation Summers had with coach Tom Izzo about a month ago, and it’s continuing against Tennessee. He has 10 points on perfect shooting from the field.

Summers could use a little help, though. The Vols lead 30-24.

This game is starting to look a bit like those Lakers-Celtics games from the 1980s, when nobody seemed to miss a shot at either end of the court.

Tennessee and Michigan State have combined to go 16 of 22 from the field in the first 8-plus minutes, including 7 for 7 from beyond the arc. They’re also 3 for 3 on free throws.

Part of the reason is both offenses are doing a good job of execution. Moments ago, Durrell Summers made a perfect Princeton-style backdoor cut for an easy layup, making him 4 for 4 from the field in the early going. He already has 10 points.

Of the 16 total field goals, half of them have come off assists. Pretty efficient.

The shooting in the first two regional finals on Saturday was atrocious, but Michigan State and Tennessee must not have been paying much attention.

Or they simply don’t care.

Wayne Chism has hit a pair of 3-pointers, and the Vols are a perfect 6 for 6 from the field in the first 5 minutes. Four of them came from beyond the arc.

Durrell Summers is picking up right where he left off against Northern Iowa, hitting his first three shots — including two 3-pointers — as Michigan State hit six of its first eight.

Fittingly, the game was tied 16-all at the first media timeout.

How much difference is there between a good season and a great one? Try 12 points.

That is the total margin of victory in Michigan State’s first three NCAA tournament games, the difference between sitting at home in East Lansing and playing Tennessee on Sunday in St. Louis with a Final Four berth on the line.

The Spartans beat New Mexico State 70-67 in the opening round, held on to beat Maryland 85-83 in one of the tournament’s most dramatic finishes, then beat Northern Iowa in a 59-52 cakewalk — relatively speaking.

Tennessee hasn’t had it much easier, beating San Diego 62-59 in the opening round before a 15-point win over Ohio. The Vols then beat Ohio State 76-73 on Friday night.

Pressure shouldn’t be a factor for either of these teams.

The Headband Watch, Part I: Wayne Chism and his headband are back on speaking terms.

The Tennessee senior, who abandoned his headband in the second half Friday — “He understood it was time for Wayne to go play” — has a bright orange headband perched high atop his head before the Vols tip off against Michigan State.

How big of a deal is this for Tennessee faithful? A poll was posted on a fan message board about whether Chism should wear the headband. More than 75 percent responded, “Yes.”

The coaching carousel made a stop Sunday when Iowa announced it had hired Fran McCaffery, who led Siena to a 27-7 record and a No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Saints lost to eventual regional semifinalist Purdue in the opening round.

McCaffery has also coached Lehigh and UNC-Greensboro before rebuilding Siena over the past five seasons. The former Notre Dame assistant has taken the Saints to three straight NCAA tournaments, including a pair of first-round upsets.

The 50-year-old McCaffery replaces Todd Lickliter, who was fired two weeks ago after his third straight losing season in Iowa City.

The first women’s NCAA tournament game of the day is already in the books, although it seemed as if this chapter was written well before it started.

Been that kind of season for No. 1 UConn.

The Huskies led fourth-seeded Iowa State 42-14 at halftime, then added to the lead in the second half behind big games from Maya Moore and Tina Charles. The final score was 74-36.

It wasn’t even that close, either.

The afternoon game in the women’s tournament has Florida State taking on Mississippi State, while the night games are Notre Dame-Oklahoma and Nebraska-Kentucky.

Michigan State traditionally travels very well at tournament time, rarely getting “outdrawn” by an opponent. The Edward Jones Dome is a sea of Creamsicle orange today, though.

Michigan State has its section and there are green shirts dotting the crowd, but it’s overwhelmingly in favor of Tennessee.

Quite a change from four years ago, when the Vols went to the preseason NIT and Pearl said “We didn’t show up. … We had very little people in the stands. Our band and cheerleaders didn’t even make it. We looked like an SEC football school that was trying to play basketball filling out the field.”

Michigan State is about to tip off in a regional final.

What else is new?

The Spartans have won more NCAA tournament games than any other team since 1999, among them four victories in regional finals and one national championship. They’re 32-10 in tournament games over that span and, lest anybody forget, played for the title just last year.

Tom Izzo may have solidified his reputation as one of the best postseason coaches in NCAA history this season, keeping together a team that has been ransacked by injuries to get within 40 minutes of playing in another Final Four. And they’re doing it without star guard Kalin Lucas, who ruptured his Achilles’ earlier in the tournament.

Michigan State will be taking on a team that has never experienced college basketball’s biggest stage. Heck, Tennessee had never experienced the Elite Eight until this season.

But behind coach Bruce Pearl and a never-stop attitude that has allowed them to get over a myriad of off-the-court issue, the Vols have a chance to paint Indianapolis with an orange and white brush next weekend.

The winner gets Butler in the national semifinals, while the other game will be set later Sunday when Duke and Baylor play. The winner there gets West Virginia.

Game on.