Michigan State channeling its inner Connecticut, 'fears no one' in run to Final Four

If what Michigan State is doing in the tournament seems familiar, it should—you watched last year's national champions win the title the same exact way.

The Tom Izzo-led Spartans have used a late-season push from star guard Travis Trice and a drastic defensive improvement to propel them to the NCAA tournament semifinals—the recipe Connecticut used in 2014 to win the national championship.

"[The Spartans] defend," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. "Connecticut by the end of the year was a really good defensive team. Two, they got good guard play. In this tournament, if you have those two things, you have a chance. I told Tom after I watched Wisconsin tape with them, I texted him and said, 'You know, you can win this thing.' He said, 'We know we can.'"

Huskie senior guard Shabazz Napier was an absolute wrecking ball in last year's tournament, finishing the 2014 Big Dance with 21.2 points per game on 48.2 percent shooting from the floor to lead the Huskies to a 60-54 national title victory against Kentucky.

Although Izzo is hesitant to go all the way with the connection, Travis Trice is far and away this tournament's Napier. The Spartan senior guard has been otherworldly in the tournament, pouring in 19.8 points and 4.0 assists per game.

Behind Trice, who Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said was the best player in the tournament, Michigan State—also a No. 7 seed like the Huskies in 2014—has knocked out No. 2 seed Virginia, No. 3 seed Oklahoma and No. 4 seed Louisville in its past three tournament games to reach the Final Four.

The path for Connecticut was nearly an exact copy, as the Huskies upset No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Iowa State and—ironically enough—No. 4 Michigan State.

"I saw firsthand—Shabazz Napier really KO'd us last year, along with a lot of other teams," Izzo said. "I'm not putting Travis Trice in that spot. He's really made some progress. He's been an incredible guard down the stretch. He's really improved down the stretch."

But, just like Napier needed Ryan Boatright to step up and help take off the offensive pressure in order to own the tournament, Denzel Valentine has been Robin to Trice's Batman this postseason.

The 6-foot-5 junior has always had a role on the team—he averaged 20.8 minutes per game as a freshman—but this year has been a breakout campaign for the Lansing, Mich., native. After averaging 5.0 points per contest as a rookie and 8.0 as a sophomore, Valentine spent the offseason improving his shot and the results are speaking for themselves.

Since 2011, Valentine has raised his free throw average from 66.7 percent to 82.9, increased his rebounds per game from 4.1 to 6.2 and his three-point shooting percentage from 28.1 percent to 41.1. The now-offensively potent guard averages 14.3 points per game and has given teams a reason to not cheat away to shut down Trice. Outside of an off-game in the second round against the Cavaliers, Valentine scored at least 15 points in the other three games of the tournament.

"Denzel has improved a ton since last year," Izzo said. "If there's a guy that's worked harder in his shooting over the years, it would be him. He's worked the hardest. I would still say that 'Zel is a little bit Brett Favre, the gunslinger."

And sometimes the confident gunslinger mentality is necessary to capture a title. Michigan State does not lack confidence—that much was clear from its press conference. But what the Spartans did lack early in the season, much like Duke, was a consistent defensive performance.

Four games into the tournament, the Michigan State defense has stepped up to the task, as it is allowing 61.3 points per game and has forced its first four opponents to shoot 34.0 percent from the floor, down from the near 40 percent clip its opponents are shooting at on the season. This is even better than the Huskies, who allowed their opponents to shoot 41.4 percent from the floor and 63.8 points per game—though that number dropped to 53.7 in their final three games

"The adjustments I thought we'd have to make, I didn't think we'd be good defensively," Izzo said. "I thought we'd be better offensively. We've turned out to be pretty good offensively, but a lot better than I thought defensively."

As the Spartan defense seems to be coming together with Trice's seemingly unstoppable tournament run, Michigan State will now be put to the test, as it faces its toughest opponent yet.

Connecticut had to defeat No. 1 seed Florida to advance to the national championship game. And, just like their underdog counterpart, the Spartans must now defeat No. 1 Duke for a shot at the title. Some may say Michigan State is overmatched, but with the magic of the underdog and a recipe for success on it's side, the one thing the Spartans are not is scared.

"We fear no one," Valentine said. "We're going to come out and play them like they're any regular team. We're not going to say, 'Oh, they're Duke.' We've beaten a lot of great teams this tournament, in the Big Ten tournament. We're just going to attack them like they're any other team and play with no fear."