March Madness reaches a crescendo with North Carolina, Michigan State, Connecticut and Villanova making up the Final Four of college basketball's semi-finals on Saturday. The title will be decided on Monday.
Midwest Region champions Michigan State, whose East Lansing campus lies just 90 miles away from Detroit, will enjoy a home-court advantage with a Final Four record crowd of nearly 72,000 expected to descend on Ford Field for a showdown with Connecticut.
"I think the players play and the toughest players win," Michigan Spartans coach Tom Izzo told reporters on Friday.
"Everybody has all their great players. Somebody is just going to make a few more shots than somebody else."
The matchup will have some international flair with Connecticut Huskies 7-foot-3-inch Tanzanian Hasheem Thabeet going up against Spartans big man Goran Suton, who grew up in war-torn Bosnia.
Suton, a dominant presence in the Midwest Regional last weekend averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds against Kansas and Louisville, draws a tough assignment defending Thabeet.
"There's no secret going against a monster like him," said Suton, a 2.08m senior. "He makes you change your shot, you have to be smart.
"The defensive end, there's not much you can do against a 7-3 guy like that. You have to push him away from the basket, keep him from getting the touches as much as possible."
The other semi-final pits underdog Villanova against Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina, who are back in the Final Four for the 18th time and second year in a row.
With four players who could all be playing in the NBA next year (Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington), the Tar Heels' presence in Detroit comes as no surprise.
All four could have made the jump to the NBA this season but decided to return for one more run at a championship.
In last year's semi-finals, North Carolina lost 84-66 to Kansas.
"Last year was our first time being here, so we didn't know what it was like, what it was all about," said Green. "I knew it was a big deal but didn't know how big a deal.
"We got caught up in a lot of outside things.
"We've been here before so we know what it's like, we know what it's about and I think that gives us an advantage over other teams.
"This year we're here to take care of business."
