One does not walk lightly into the Izzone, but when you’re a top 5 team like Texas, at least look like you care about your tournament seeding. Michigan State strangled control of this midway through the first and never looked back. In typical Longhorn style, they rally back to make it interesting, but fall short of the actual comeback and must settle on a moral victory. AJ Abrams outdid DJ Augustin with 24 points off the bench to his teammate’s 22, but it wasn’t enough initials or hype to get past the Spartans. In a game that had all of the excitement of a blowout, and none of the fun of an actual reversal, Michigan State improves their resume and sends the Longhorns back to Austin for a consolation ranking somewhere between 9 and 11.

Michigan State 78- Texas 72