MILWAUKEE -- One Mount St. Mary's fan taunted Michigan State with a sign that read, "We Were a School Before You Were a State."
You settle for any victory when you're a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Actually, the Mountaineers scored a victory of sorts where it counts last night -- on the court at the Bradley Center -- by playing the Spartans, the top seed in the Midwest Regional, competitively through most of the first half of their first-round game.
They fared a lot better than they did in their last trip to the tournament, when one of Rick Pitino's Kentucky teams battered them by 46 points four years ago.
They also fared better than Florida A&M;, the No. 16 seed in the East Regional, which trailed Duke by 39 points at halftime last night and lost by 41.
"I heard that [halftime] score and I thought, 'Yeah, we're doing all right here,' " the Mount's Eric Bethel said.
Not that the Mountaineers came anywhere close to scoring an upset. Let's not make this sound better than it was. The Spartans pulled away before halftime, turned up their defensive pressure in the second half and rolled to a 76-53 win. It was no contest.
But given the Spartans' superior talent, national championship aspirations and the fact that a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1, who expected otherwise?
The Mount's unstated goal was to compete well, not get completely blown away like last time and maybe give the Spartans at least a moment's worry. They did.
That moment came five minutes into the game, when the Mount's Gregory Harris fed Melvin Whitaker on a fast break and Whitaker slammed home a soaring dunk while being fouled. His free throw gave the Mountaineers an 11-7 lead, stirring the sellout crowd to a roar during the ensuing timeout. Was there a surprise in the making?
"Our bench was going crazy during that timeout," said Bethel, a senior guard. "We were all jumping around, extremely excited. It felt like we were back at the NEC [Northeast Conference] tournament [which the Mount won to advance to the NCAA tournament]. It was the same feeling exactly. At that point, we thought we had a chance to play with these guys and do something major."
What a moment. But the Mountaineers should have frozen it. The Spartans returned from the timeout with an attitude, regained the lead for keeps at 17-14 and steadily increased it.
Their lead was still just six points with 5: 40 left in the first half, but the Mount went cold from the floor at that point and soon disappeared from view.
"We'd hoped to stay a little closer a little longer," Mount coach Jim Phelan said. "Early on, we were there. We had a good game plan and we were executing it. That was exciting. We were happy with that. But we can't simulate the kind of defensive intensity [the Spartans] have. They really denied us the things we wanted to do. They're really good."
The Spartans' high-pressure defense pushed the Mount's sets 20 feet from the basket, challenged every entry pass and left the Mount without options. It's what a worthy No. 1 seed is supposed to do against such an opponent.
"This could have been a 40-point loss, easily," Bethel said. "I'm proud of the way we took it to them early, and also the way we kept competing in the second half. My overall impression of the night is good. I'm very satisfied with the heart and courage we showed."
Victories?
Well, the sign in the stands was right: The Mount was founded in 1808 and Michigan was granted statehood in 1837, so the Mount was 29 years older.
In your face.
The Mount also had several hundred students in the crowd who never stopped cheering and never sat down, not even when the game was completely out of hand. In the final moments, with State far ahead, they chanted the name of their school.
The Terps should have such a first-class crowd.
Another victory? Two players at the end of Mount's bench, Jason Grace and Stephen Moore, nailed three-pointers in the final seconds. The smile that crossed Moore's face after he hit his shot was priceless.
As the teams showered and dressed after the game and the players spoke to reporters, Phelan and State coach Tom Izzo crossed paths in a tunnel. Izzo congratulated Phelan on his defensive scheme, which limited State's All-America guard, Mateen Cleaves, to eight points.
"Your guys really did a good job," Izzo said, stopping to diagram what he'd liked about the scheme on the wall.
Phelan smiled and sipped from a cup of soda, put a hand on Izzo's shoulder, wished him good luck and headed down the hall, 800 wins and all.
"We knew full well what we were in for here," he said as he walked. "I'm glad our game plan kind of worked, at least at first."
You take any victory you can, large or small.
"Hey, look, we were here," Bethel said. "It's the NCAA tournament. Such a big deal. And we're such a small school. But we were here and we played hard, and that's terrific. You know how I feel? Happy."
Pub Date: 3/13/99