Michigan State steamrolls LSU, into Elite Eight

WASHINGTON - Freshmen Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown had career nights, lifting No. 2 Michigan State to an 80-63 victory over No. 3 LSU in the East Region semifinals of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Henry and Brown scored career-highs with Henry pouring in 20 and Brown scoring 15 as the Spartans (31-6) advance to Sunday's regional final where they'll play the winner of No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech.

Cassius Winston scored 17 and handed out eight assists for Michigan State while Xavier Tillman chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds with Kenny Goins tallying six points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

Tremont Waters scored 23 for LSU (28-7), including a bucket that pulled the Tigers within 45-41 with 16:44 to play. But Michigan State responded with an 11-0 run, which began with Brown's triple and 3-pointers from Henry and Goins.

Michigan State's 3-point barrage blew open what was a four-point game, gave the Spartans a 56-41 lead with 14:41 to play and forced an LSU timeout. The Spartans kept it coming, eventually pushing the lead to 66-48 before LSU put together its final surge.

Two straight triples from Waters got things going and four in a row from Reid pulled the Tigers with 70-60 with just more than four minutes to play. But Matt McQuaid scored six points in just more than two minutes to help the Spartans put the game away.

Kavell Bigby-Williams added 11 points for the Tigers while Naz Reid was good for 10 points and nine rebounds.

It was all Michigan State in the first half as the Spartans scored the first eight points of the game, forcing LSU to take a timeout less than two minutes into the game after Henry and Winston hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

The timeout did little to slow the Spartans, who made six of their first nine shots and went up 22-11 on a triple from Winston. LSU started to get back into it, pulling within 25-17 with 9:28 left in the first half before Michigan State started to take control once again.

A 15-6 surge for the Spartans put them ahead, 40-23, with 2:10 to play in the half after Nick Ward scored on a jump-hook. But the Tigers built some momentum headed into the locker room as they scored the final five points of the half, including a 3-pointer from Waters to cut Michigan State's lead to 40-28 at the break.

LSU came storming out of the locker room, scoring the first eight points for a 13-0 run that began late in the first half.

--Field Level Media

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