With both hands grasping the basketball, Travis Trice took it all in.

He looked around the boisterous Carrier Dome, handed the ball to the ref and calmly outstretched his clenched fists.

He was on his way to the free-throw line and Michigan State, a No. 7 seed, was on its way to the Final Four.

MSU upended fourth-seeded Louisville in overtime, 76-70, on Sunday afternoon in the Elite Eight. Despite Wayne Blackshear’s 28 points, Michigan State buried enough 3s to earn itself some new apparel and a net-cutting experience.

The first half was full of back-and-forth action and eight lead exchanges, but the Cardinals got the last punch in. After a Trice 3 pulled MSU within 29-27, Louisville ended the half with an 11-5 run that put the score at 40-32 by the break.

But the script flipped in the second half, as Louisville’s only three field goals in the first 16 minutes were Terry Rozier’s transition layups. Montrezl Harrell missed four from the field, stripping the Cardinals of their source of offense.

Despite UofL’s streakiness from the field and back-to-back 3s from Bryn Forbes and Trice, the Spartans never fully took off and their lead was never bigger than six.

MSU’s Marvin Clark Jr. got a bucket on the inside to spring the Spartans back ahead, 65-64, and Rozier missed an elbow jumper on the other end, but Clark missed two free throws. UofL’s Mangok Mathiang split a pair to send the game to overtime.

Forbes canned a 3 to start the extra period and drained two from the free-throw line two minutes later for a 70-66 lead. A Denzel Valentine basket pushed it to 72-66.

Rozier connected from the elbow to cut it to four. Blackshear added two free throws to make it 72-70 entering the final 60 ticks.

Branden Dawson put back Forbes’ missed 3 for a four-point window and Trice iced it with two more free throws.

Then the Spartans rushed the court, as the last team standing in the East Regional.

Published on March 29, 2015 at 5:05 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb