ST. LOUIS – Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan hit a free throw with 1.8 seconds left to give the Spartans a 70-69 victory over Tennessee in the Midwest Regional final.
After giving State the lead, Morgan intentionally missed the second free throw, which gave the Vols the ball with 1.6 seconds to play in the backcourt following a UT timeout.
But J.P. Prince was forced to throw up a halfcourt heave just ahead of the horn, which fell short of the rim. The Vols end the season 28-9 while State improves to 28-8 as it heads to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
UT led 41-39 at halftime and led 50-45 early in the final half before State went on an 11-1 run to lead 56-51. The Vols never got closer than a 69-all tie on Scotty Hopson’s free throw the rest of the way.
Wayne Chism led the Vols with 13 points, followed by Prince with 12, Brian Williams with 11 and Hopson with 10.
Durrell Summers led the winners with 21 followed by Morgan with 13.