Veteran announcer Lundquist goes way back with MSU

Call it the luck of the draw, but CBS/TBS play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist has seen a lot of Michigan State basketball games through the years.

And that continues tonight, when he calls the Spartans' Sweet 16 matchup against Oklahoma (about 10:07 p.m., TBS).

"It somehow seems that we are the lucky ones," Lundquist said. "I think Raft and I have done more Michigan State NCAA tournament or games of significance than probably anybody else."

"Raft" is longtime partner Bill Raftery, who this year has been reassigned to work with Jim Nantz and Grant Hill. The analyst working with Lundquist on tonight's MSU game in Syracuse, N.Y., will be Jim Spanarkel.

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Lundquist, 74, started working the NCAA tournament when CBS got the rights in 1982 and he was one of the "first weekend" announcers. His role become more prominent over the years, such as 1992, when he was at the mike in the East Regional final when Duke beat Kentucky on Christian Laettner's buzzer beater in overtime.

That's where he was for the Midwest Regional final in 2000, too.

"The first year that Raft and I were tied together, we had Michigan State-Iowa State in the regional final at the Palace of Auburn Hills," Lundquist said. "That's the year that Michigan State went on and won the national championship with Mateen Cleaves. …

"I just have this vivid memory of the intensity. It was very much like the championship game. …

"That was about as intense a Michigan State team as I've ever seen, and I've been lucky enough to have them at a variety of venues and games of a higher degree of importance. We had them last year at Madison Square Garden, when they beat Virginia and lost to UConn."

So Lundquist has seen a lot of MSU coach Tom Izzo "and learned enough about him to know that he qualifies for my very small list of most-respected coaches."

Lundquist wasn't all that impressed by his most recent Spartans game, though, when they lost, 68-61, at Wisconsin. But then that Izzo/March thing kicked in.

"I saw them three weeks ago, the Michigan State at Wisconsin game," he said. "And they got whacked pretty good. It wasn't very competitive. And on that particular afternoon, Michigan State did not look like a team that was going to be, A, in the Sweet 16 and, beyond that, in the Elite Eight with a very real chance, I think, of getting back to the Final Four. But that's what Tom seems to do. …

"I've seen it in action so many times, and it's remarkable."

Lundquist also said that Izzo is good for broadcasters to work with.

"For us, it's terrific," he said. "But then, I don't miss free throws.

"I love going to his practices, and he allows us to see what he wants us to see. He's involved in the practice from start to finish. He's intense. He's not abusive, but he's got your attention for the whole three hours."

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.

Join us for a live blog of the MSU-Oklahoma game Friday night.