I am sure that Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans wish they had the first 10 minutes of the game back. Despite getting a bunch of offensive rebounds, they could not make a basket, and the Connecticut Huskies jumped out to a 25-6 lead.

The Spartans would chip away in the first half to cut the lead down to 8 at halftime. They even took a lead with 10 minutes to play when Jaxon Kohler got fouled on a layup and hit the free throw to take a 45-44 lead. But the Spartans would go cold from the field again, and UConn would get a three-pointer by Alex Karaban, a layup by Solo Ball, and then Jayden Reed would steal the ball, get fouled and hit a free throw to give the Huskies back a 7 point lead.

But the Spartans would continue to chip away. With two minutes to play, Michigan State ran a high pick and roll to Carson Cooper, who charged down the lane and made a huge dunk to cut the lead to one. But on the next possession, Alex Karaban hit the dagger with a deep three-pointer to extend the lead back to 4.

Michigan State would try to get the ball back into Cooper, but his drive got stopped so he kicked it back out to Jeremy Fears, who hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead back to 1 with about a minute to play.

Tarris Reed from UConn would get the ball need the hoop but was fouled with the shot clock running down. And the 58% free throw shooter hit both free throws to make it a 3 point game. Jeremy Fears would try to quickly drive to the hoop, and missed the layup but got fouled. His two free-throws cut the lead back to 1.

Michigan State tried to trap in the backcourt, but once it crossed the half-line, they fouled Alex Karaban. The senior calmly came to the line and hit both free throws. The Spartans would come back down the court clearly looking to drive to the basket and score quickly. But the Huskies played strong defense and wouldn’t let Fears get a path to the basket. They forced the ball out of his hands, and with the clock winding down, Kur Teng missed a well-defended three-pointer with about 5 second left, and Carson Cooper got fouled trying to get the rebound.

Cooper hit the first and missed the second. While it was unclear if it was intentional or not, it was a great try and a miss that would allow the Spartans to get a rebound and try to tie the game as it bounced softly off the front of the rim. But the Huskies’ Tarris Reed Jr outleaped everyone for the ball and was fouled.

And with the season on the line, as he did with about 45 seconds in the game, the worst free-throw shooter on the court calmly drilled both free-throws and sent the Huskies to the regional final against Duke.

Congratulations to the Huskies on surviving and advancing – it should be an incredible regional final in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.