But his classmate Branden Dawson, who had been anything but outstanding on the offensive end of the floor through most of this melodramatic afternoon, made the play that put Michigan State (27-11) into the Final Four.
Twice in the second half, Dawson had thrown pick-six passes right into the hands of Louisville's Terry Rozier at critical moments.
By the time the two teams dragged into overtime, both clearly on fumes after a 40-minute basketball war, Michigan State was running out of inside players. Two had fouled out. Dawson was 3 for 10 in regulation, trying to fight his way inside against Louisville's quick-leaping front line.
Just as in regulation, the Spartans had the lead late and appeared to be in control before the Cardinals came back. Two free throws by Wayne Blackshear had cut the margin to 72-70 with 1 minute 4 seconds to play. Michigan State called a timeout.
That's when Louisville Coach Rick Pitino made what turned out to be a fateful decision. "Tom (Izzo) loves to call time out in that situation, and he always runs something that's going to get them a good shot," Pitino said. "I thought they'd be setting something up against our zone, so I went to a trap. They made a play — we didn't."
The play was made by Dawson, who got into the lane and, seeing two defenders flying at him, kicked the ball to the left wing to Bryn Forbes, who had made four three-pointers already — all of them, though, from the other corner. Forbes's shot rimmed out, but Dawson, with the Louisville defenders having fallen away from him when he passed the ball, found a seam, flew high, grabbed the ball as it came off the rim and banked it into the basket with 28 seconds to go.
The lead was 74-70, and the celebration was beginning on the Michigan State bench. It was complete a few seconds later when Quentin Snider, who had not turned the ball over in 42 minutes playing the point, threw a pass that Trice intercepted. Two made free throws later, the seventh-seeded Spartans had sent Izzo to his seventh — and perhaps most unlikely — Final Four.
"This one is, I guess, as big a surprise as any of them," Izzo said, standing at midcourt after the Carrier Dome nets had come down. "I know a lot of times teams like to say they were disrespected. I told our guys we were respected by being in the tournament. I kept telling my local writers that we weren't that far away from being good, that if we'd made a few free throws in close games or won some of the overtime games we'd lost, we'd be okay."
He smiled. "Of course I think I was trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince them."
There's no need to convince anyone anymore. Before the game, a fan in the Michigan State section held up a sign that said, "January, February, Izzo, April, May."
No one in college basketball can argue that the third month on the calendar has been virtually owned by Izzo since 1999. For a long time Sunday, though, it looked as if Pitino would be holding March bragging rights. The Cardinals shot 53 percent the first half and finished on an 8-2 run to lead 40-32. Pitino knew that the second half would be more difficult.
"I told them that I was sure the guy in the other locker room was blistering the paint off the walls and they would come out and get after us," he said. "I told them to keep running our offense, be patient and we'd be fine. Then, our first three possessions, we got out of our offense."
Pitino's assessment of what Izzo was doing inside his tiny locker room was accurate. "I asked them if they'd become pretty boys," he said. "I asked them if the stage was too big for them. We weren't playing defense. We weren't passing the ball well. We weren't rebounding. I told them we'd gotten here with defense and rebounding and that was what we had to get back to."
They did that — especially on defense. Whether it was Louisville missing shots or the Spartans playing stellar defense, the Cardinals shot 6 for 32 in the last 25 minutes of the game. Montrezl Harrell, who had been a monster in the first half, didn't have the same spring in his legs. He had been 6 for 7 from the field at halftime but didn't make another field goal. Rozier shot 6 for 23 but kept his team in the game with three of what Izzo calls "turnovers-for-touchdowns" — two against Dawson, a third against Denzel Valentine. He and Blackshear were the only Cardinals who scored from the field after halftime.
"That's a little deceptive," Pitino pointed out. "We were going to the basket, and we got fouled a good deal."
They did and made most of their free throws. The last one of regulation was made by Mangok Mathiang, a 48 percent free throw shooter who was fouled with 4.9 seconds left and Michigan State leading 65-64. Mathiang's first shot hit the back rim, went so high in the air it almost touched the Carrier Dome roof and dropped in.
"At that moment, I thought we were going to win the game," Pitino said, forcing a smile. "I thought, 'If that shot can go in, then we're going to win.' "
The basketball gods, it turned out, were cruelly teasing him. Mathiang missed the second free throw, Trice missed from half-court and the game went to overtime. That should not have been good for the Spartans, who were 2-5 in overtime games before Sunday.
Trice and Valentine were having none of it. "They just got in the huddle and said, 'We're not losing. Let's go,' " Izzo said. "After that, I didn't have to say much. In fact, I'm not sure I said anything."
Forbes hit a three to start the overtime, and Louisville (27-9) didn't catch up. It was Forbes's miss from the left side that set up Dawson's critical putback.
"I thought Bryn would make it," Dawson said, smiling. "He'd made them all day. But when I saw it come off, I just went for it and, well . . ."
And, well, a few minutes later Trice was standing at midcourt, his hands locked behind his head, saying, "Oh my God, Oh my God," over and over in disbelief. By then, his parents, Travis and Julie, were on the court. They had driven through the night after Travis Sr.'s team, Wayne High of Huber Heights, had won the Ohio boys' championship game.
"They showed up at 8:30 this morning," Izzo said. "They came in carrying pillows because they'd shared the driving (there were 10 in the group). I said, 'What is this, the Clampett's? Where's Jethro?' "
Jethro was not to be found. But now the Trices and the rest of the Spartans will be loading up and heading — not to Beverly — but to Indy. The Final Four . . . that is.
For more by John Feinstein, visit washingtonpost.com/feinstein.
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