Demons closing the gap DePaul picks up first loss but hangs with No. 3 Spartans

Michigan State 89, DePaul 81

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- When Dave Leitao gets DePaul to the levelhe is seeking, the Blue Demons will be able to sustain a comebackagainst the likes of the nation's elite teams.

The Demons are still short of that goal in the coach's secondseason, falling 89-81 to No. 3 Michigan State on Sunday in the titlegame of the Spartan Classic at the Breslin Center.

But signs are pointing to the gap closing.

The story of the game is that we faced one of not only the bestteams in the country, but one of the best programs,'' Leitao saidafter his team rallied from deficits of 10 and 15 points in thesecond half. Coach [Tom] Izzo does a tremendous job in getting guysto a particular mind-set.

"That wore us down at certain points of the game, and their effortof doing what they wanted to do -- pushing the ball, the makes andthe misses -- and our guys not really realizing that it was coming atthem in waves every time and not adjusting really cost us at criticaljunctures.''

Yet Izzo has been frank in criticizing his team's sometimes raggedplay after losing last week to No. 5 Kansas on the road, and hecredited DePaul with a developing program.

You have to give DePaul credit because they did a great job offighting back,'' Izzo said of the Demons (3-1), who trailed by 10 atthe half and by 15 with 5:56 left. They whittled the first differenceaway to one at 55-54 with 10:08 left on a free throw by juniorforward Quemont Greer, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. They cutthe second big deficit to five at 78-73 when junior Drake Dienerstole an inbounds pass and hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds left.

You look at the polls, and they're a top team,'' senior forwardAndre Brown said of the Spartans (3-1), who won their 17th of 21tournaments, with this year's field including the four teams from the1979 Final Four won by Magic Johnson's Spartans team. This was a goodtest. We competed with a great team. We had a chance to beat them andlet it slip away."

The Demons were hurt by Brown's poor showing at the free-throwline and off-target shooting from freshman Sammy Mejia and Diener.

But despite a 6-for-14 effort from the line, Brown had his fourthstraight double-double, getting 18 points and 10 rebounds to be namedone of two Demons on the all-tournament team.

"I work so hard at it, but I'm so terrible at the line," saidBrown, a bandage under his right eye serving as a testament to thephysical game inside.

Mejia, who scored 11 second-half points Saturday against IndianaState, was 0-for-7 against the Spartans. Diener, the team's bestthree-point shooter, had only eight points on 3-for-10 shooting,including 2-for-7 on three-pointers.

But the real difference showed in Michigan State's ability tocapitalize on DePaul's mistakes, scoring 16 points in transition inwhat at times seemed a clinic on how to run the break. The Demonswere guilty of 15 turnovers.

"They got a lot of easy buckets off fast breaks,'' said seniorDelonte Holland, also named to the all-tournament team with a game-high 27 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Kelvin Torbert (19 points), Alan Anderson (17) and Chris Hill (15points, 11 assists) led the way for the Spartans.