In the middle of the stands, ESPN reporter Jamal Carrell's gaze was constantly locked on Hansen.
An NCAA invitational game, and one of the teams even hailed from a Second-tier Alliance—if it weren't for Tois, he wouldn't have shown up here.
He watched for a while before withdrawing his attention.
Hansen's physical condition looked good, and the three-pointer touch he demonstrated during the warm-up seemed quite smooth.
But that was all.
Plus, he was Asian.
If he had been a center like Yao Ming or Yi Jianlian, perhaps Carrell would have shown interest, but swingmen like him were all too common in the United States.
The warm-up soon ended, and the venue moved on to the opening ceremony, with both teams' starting lineups subsequently announced.
Barry University: Chris Rondo, Hansen, Will Atkinson, Dan Hiyam, Aaron O'Neal;
Michigan State University: Kalin Lucas, Travis Walton, Delvin Luo, Remar Morgan, Goran Sutton.
When Hansen took the court, he realized that the Walton he was matched up against was at least a half-head shorter than him, probably only around 6'2".
It seemed he and Tois's premonition from yesterday was correct—Michigan State hadn't taken them seriously at all.
The jump ball started, and Sutton easily tapped the ball back to the half court, and the game officially began.
Sutton moved down to the baseline in the frontcourt calling for the ball, and after receiving it, he powerfully scored against O'Neal.
"You're called O'Neal, an insult to the name," Sutton taunted after making the basket.
O'Neal, his face turning red, was helpless to respond.
Michigan State's offense started the game fiercely, especially with Sutton causing upheaval in the paint.
They obviously saw Barry University as a tool to vent their frustrations.
However, Barry University didn't fall behind on the scoreboard, because they responded on the offensive end.
The height difference made Walton's attempts to guard Hansen's shots practically futile.
What's more, for reasons no one could understand, even though it was clear to any average fan that Walton couldn't guard Hansen, Michigan State University didn't switch defenders nor double-team him.
This clearly wasn't a coaching issue—Michigan State's head coach, Tom Zoe, was a renowned NCAA coach. He led the team to an NCAA championship in 2000 and is the coach with the most victories in school history.
The only explanation was that he simply didn't care.
An evenly matched opening didn't affect the final outcome as the gap in team strength meant that one push from them would be enough to widen the score.
It was better to let the players vent their emotions on the court, which could help them recover from the shadow of a crushing defeat.
The first half ended surprisingly tied 31-31.
Hansen had 14 points at half-time, with Sutton from Michigan State University scoring a game-high 16 points.
During the half-time break, the mood among Barry University's players was ecstatic.
They were obviously aware of Michigan State's superior strength, but holding their own against an NCAA top five team was enough to make them proud.
"You'll be double-teamed in the second half, watch for the speed of your passes," Tois warned Hansen, pulling him aside before the start of the second half.
Hansen nodded, then glanced at Tois, seeing a kind of longing in his eyes.
The game continued into the second half.
NCAA games are divided into two halves, but each one lasts only twenty minutes, and Barry University started the second half on offense.
When Hansen moved to the front court, he saw his defender had switched from Walton to Darrell Summers.
Summers, 6'5", had a physique and mobility comparable to his own.
Instead of keeping the ball like in the first half, Hansen communicated nonverbally with O'Neal and moved directly from the baseline to the top of the arc.
O'Neal pulled up to the high post and, seeing the opportunity, set a solid screen on Summers.
Rondo took the opportunity to pass the ball.
This was a classic pindown screen tactic.
After receiving the ball, Hansen quickly jumped and shot.
"Swish!"
The basketball went smoothly through the net.
"How come you move slower than O'Neal?"
Hansen asked Sutton, who had just come up to defend.
And after speaking, he even gave O'Neal a high-five right in front of him.
This time it was Sutton's turn to flush red.
Hansen played face-to-face, but Sutton didn't continue to ask for the ball down low on the next play; instead, he played pick and roll with Lucas.
Lucas, not particularly tall at just 1.85 meters, sprinted past the defense almost instantly after a pick and roll and scored with a swift layup.
After returning for the second half, Michigan State University had made adjustments in both offense and defense.
A clear signal—they were gearing up to take the game.
When Hansen received the ball on the offensive end, Michigan State immediately double-teamed him.
Fortunately, Hansen was prepared and passed the ball back to Rondo before the double team could set in.
After receiving the ball, Rondo quickly drove to the basket, seizing the opportunity of Sutton's absence in the paint to score a layup.
At this moment, Tois also stood up and moved to the sidelines, shouting and gesturing at his players as they retreated.
Barry University adjusted their defensive strategy and shifted from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone defense.
The zone defense is an underdog's weapon against stronger teams because it can create two-on-one situations in certain areas, thus compensating for the disadvantages of one-on-one defense.
The 2-3 zone in particular is designed to protect the paint.
However, as a powerhouse in the First-tier Alliance, Michigan State naturally had ways to break the zone defense.
After continuous ball movement on the weak side of the perimeter, Sutton suddenly set a screen at the three-point line, providing Lucas with an opportunity for a three-pointer from the right 45-degree angle.
The move to break the zone defense was executed beautifully, except... Lucas missed the three-pointer.
Lucas's three-point shooting percentage for the season stood at 39%, outstanding for a guard who primarily drives to the basket.
But the crux of the problem was that in the first half, Michigan State's offense had focused on the inside game, with Lucas rarely handling the ball and not even attempting a single shot from the perimeter; under these circumstances, hitting a three-pointer would be quite difficult.
Most players need to shoot to find and maintain their rhythm.
On the sidelines, Tois excitedly pumped his fists.
By waiting until the second half to make tactical adjustments, his goal had been to prevent Michigan State's perimeter players from finding their rhythm.
Following Tois's deployment of zone defense and Michigan State's failure to hit outside shots, the dynamic on the court had shifted unexpectedly.
Breaking the zone relied on three-point shots, and the more Michigan State missed, the more resolute Barry University became in their zone defense, plunging Michigan State into a scoring drought.
In contrast, over at Barry, Rondo leveraged the offensive space created by Hansen to score repeatedly through penetration.
Back and forth, Barry University was slowly pulling away with the lead!
With about 7 minutes played in the quarter, Barry University was actually leading Michigan State 41 to 34!
Zoe was compelled to signal for a timeout.
As the Barry players came off the court, Tois stood at the very front of the scorer's table, giving each player a hearty high-five.
At that moment, Hansen could feel even more the burning desire inside Tois, and his heart swelled with respect.
Although the current situation was largely due to Michigan State's complacency, Tois's tactical maneuvers were nothing short of brilliant.
In this era, there was no J.J. Redick; being an NBA head coach meant inherent competence.
During the timeout, Hansen had initially been sitting on the bench listening to Tois's tactical setup.
But soon, he and the others around him turned their heads almost in unison to look towards the opposing half of the court.
Zoe's high-decibel voice echoed through the arena.
You could absolutely sense how furious he was.
After the timeout, Michigan State delivered a beautiful offensive play, with Sutton making a dunk beneath the basket to break the scoring drought.
While three-point shooting is the most effective weapon against a zone, breaking it can involve more than just perimeter shooting; overloading to create mismatches is another approach.
After the timeout, Michigan State set up with a 1-3-1 formation specifically to target the 2-3 zone.
After ball movement on the perimeter, the ball was passed to Moore at the free-throw line, a weak spot in the zone defense.
Moore's shooting ability meant he could punish from the free-throw line, forcing Barry University's interior defenders to step out and help, which created opportunities for Sutton beneath the hoop.
Besides tactical adjustments, the execution of Michigan State's players on the court also improved significantly.
Zoe was now at the sidelines, waving his arms and shouting at his players as they retreated.
Clearly, even an embarrassing loss to North Carolina was within their tolerance, since a 35-point loss was essentially the same as a 1-point loss.
But to lose to a team from the Second-tier Alliance that was supposed to be a punching bag? That was unacceptable.
Michigan State's defensive intensity rose, and Barry University's offense eventually failed to score.
These kinds of sequences continued, and after Zoe's outburst, Michigan State displayed the strength worthy of a top-five team in the First-tier Alliance.
By the time 15 minutes of the second half had elapsed, Michigan State had surged with a 15-3 run to regain the lead at 49 to 44.
During this period, aside from a three-pointer by Hansen, no one else from Barry had scored, and they were nearing a four-minute scoring drought.
Tois was forced to call another timeout.
With just 5 minutes left in the game, those minutes became the death sentence for his team.
Once the zone defense failed to stop Michigan State from scoring, any chance of victory had slipped away.