The 6-foot-10 senior played the game of his

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Adreian Payne sent Tom Izzo a text. He wants to leave a legacy. Consider it done. The 6-foot-10 senior played the game of his life Thursday, scoring a career-high 41 points to help fourth-seeded Michigan State look every bit like a March Madness favourite in a 93-78 victory over Delaware. "He was playing in another zone, not even in the ozone," Izzo said. "He was in Pluto and beyond." This marked the first 40-point performance in the NCAA tournament since Stephen Curry did it for Davidson in a win over Gonzaga in 2008. Payne set a school tournament scoring record, surpassing the 34 points Greg Kelser scored during Michigan States 1979 title run led by Magic Johnson. Paynes overall line: 10 for 15 from the field, 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and a tournament-record 17 for 17 from the free throw line. He chipped in eight rebounds, too. "Forty-one is 41, and he was a load tonight," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "He was probably the best big man that I have faced in 21 years of college basketball." Payne thought long and hard about leaving for the NBA after last season. He decided to stick around to see if he could lead Michigan State to another Final Four. Asked what his best night -- at least so far -- in a Spartan uniform means to him, Payne said, "Leaving a legacy." "I talked to Coach about that," he said. "The other day, I sent him a text and were just trying to win games. We are here to win the weekend and thats the main goal." Michigan States next game is Saturday against 12th-seeded Harvard, which beat Cincinnati 61-57 in an earlier East region contest. Though his entire performance was sublime, it was never better than during a 105-second stretch midway through the first half. Payne scored 12 straight points to help the Spartans (27-8) open an 18-point lead over the 13th-seeded Blue Hens (25-10). Those points came three at a time -- a trio of spot-up 3s and one ridiculous, spinning left-hander from the paint while he was being mugged by Carl Baptiste. Payne stepped to the line to make the free throw with his right hand -- the hand he shoots most of his shots with -- and by then, he had pretty much proven his point. "He made the right decision to stay," Izzo said. "Hes a much more cerebral player, hes a much stronger player. He is starting to marry the inside-outside game. And if he does that on a consistent basis, I see him as one of the best 4 men in the whole country." With the game out of reach -- but Izzo less than satisfied with what he called an uneven effort -- Payne played almost to the end and the Spartans fed him. He dunked with 4:26 left to reach his career high and break Kelsers record. Points Nos. 40 and 41 came on free throws; the second one gave him the record for most makes in an NCAA tournament game without a miss. The previous holders are a couple of unforgettable names: Bill Bradley (1963, Princeton) and Fennis Dembo (1987, Wyoming). "When youre scoring like that and your games coming so easy to you, and you make a lot of shots, it feels like youre in a rhythm," Payne said. "It feels like you cant be stopped." For the brief moments Delaware did stop him, others stepped up. Travis Trice scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to prevent the Colonial Athletic Association champs from turning this into a game. Branden Dawson, the Big Ten tournaments most valuable player, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists -- modest on this day. It was that run through the Big Ten that turned Michigan State into a trendy pick in brackets across the country. President Barack Obama has the Spartans winning it all, and Las Vegas has them favoured along with Florida and Louisville. Devon Saddler had 21 points and Davon Usher added 20 for Delaware, which made its first NCAA appearance since 1999. Ross looked at it all with a sense of awe. He thought his team played pretty well. He still cant believe Michigan State is a No. 4 seed. "Im only reiterating what the whole country is saying," Ross said. "If the country is saying youre the odds-on favourite to win the national championship, youre not 16th best in the country." http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Angel-Correa-Jersey/ . With nothing tangible at stake, the Raptors turned in their most impressive outing of the fall in their seventh and second to last exhibition tilt against their stiffest competition yet, but they lost a couple starters in the process. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Antoine-Griezmann-Jersey/ . -- Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo is going to the Pro Bowl as a replacement for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Customized/ .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Koke-Jersey/ . The three Calgary natives will compete after the sport was skipped by the Vancouver Games in 2010 but later included on the program for Sochi, Russia. The fight to include womens ski jumping prior to Vancouver went to the courts only to have the Supreme Court of Canada rule against the athletes appeal in 2009. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Diego-Godin-Jersey/ . Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.The U.S. drew a daunting task for next years World Cup: difficult opponents, tropical venues and a wearying 9,000-mile zigzag journey across Brazil. The Americans wound up with the potentially punishing group they feared and will play Ghana, Portugal and Germany next June as they try to achieve a U.S. first: reaching the knockout phase twice in a row. While Ghana eliminated the Americans in 2006 and 2010, the Black Stars wont do it again. The U.S. opens its seventh straight World Cup appearance against Ghana on June 16 at Natal. The U.S. meets Portugal and 2008 FIFA Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo six days later in the Amazon rain forest city Manaus. The Americans have just three off days to recover before closing Group G on June 26 in Recife against three-time champion Germany. "I think we have the quality, if we play our best ball, to get out of the group," U.S. captain Clint Dempsey said after Fridays draw set the eight four-nation groups. "You cant think about, Am I the favourite? Am I the underdog? Whats it going to be like playing in the heat? Whats it going to be like with the travel? Those are factors that come into it, but at the end of the day both teams have to deal with it." After having the shortest group-play travel in South Africa, the U.S. will have the longest in Brazil. The Americans will be based in Sao Paulo and face trips of 1,436 miles to Natal, 1,832 miles to Manaus and 1,321 miles to Recife. They will play all three games in the tropics, with the second and third matches in the afternoon. "I think guys who have played in MLS are used to taking 3,000-mile trips across the country to play," midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. The U.S. group has the best average FIFA world ranking. Odds on the Americans winning their first World Cup more than doubled after the draw, from 60-1 to 150-1. "Its definitely one of the tougher groups, if not the toughest, but at the same time, this is what the World Cups all about. You go there to play against the best," American forward Jozy Altidore said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I think the boys will be excited, will be up for it." U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who replaced Bob Bradley 2 1/2 years ago, played for Germanys 1990 World Cup championship team and coached his native country to third place at home in the 2006 tournament, commuting to Europe from his California house in Orange County. "It couldnt get any more difficult or any bigger," he said at the draw in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. "Its a real challenge. And well take it. Well take it on, and hopefully were going to surprise some people there." The U.S. and South Korea were the last remaining teams in draw pot three. While the Americans landed in a group with an average FIFA ranking of 11.25, South Korea wound uup in Group H, creating a group with the poorest average at 28.dddddddddddd25. "I think the teams mentality is that we can go and play with anybody," American defender Matt Besler said. "Now were going to have to prove it." Germany beat the U.S. 2-0 in its 1998 World Cup opener in Paris -- with Klinsmann setting up the first goal and scoring the second -- then edged the Americans 1-0 on a controversial goal in the 2002 quarterfinal in South Korea. Die Mannschaft is coached by Klinsmanns former assistant, Joachim Loew. The Americans beat a second-tier German roster 4-3 in a June exhibition at Washington. "With Jurgen Klinsmann, they have another mentality," Loew said. "I learned a lot from Jurgen, so this is special." Ranked 14th in the world, the U.S. has alternated quick exits with advancement since returning to soccers showcase in 1990 after a 40-year absence. After the draw four years ago, one British paper used a headline "EASY" for England, Algeria, Slovenia and the Yanks, and The Sun called it the "best English group since the Beatles." The Americans wound up atop a group for the first time since the first World Cup in 1930, and England advanced as the second-place nation. This time, second-ranked Germany and fifth-ranked Portugal are the favourites to reach the second round. If the U.S. qualifies for the round of 16, it would face Belgium, Russia, Algeria or South Korea from Group H. As for the rest of the field, Brazil, Cameroon, Croatia, Mexico were put in Group A; Australia, Chile, Netherlands and Spain in Group B; Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan in Group C; Costa Rica, England, Italy and Uruguay in Group D; Ecuador, France, Honduras and Switzerland in Group E; and Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria in Group F. The U.S. will feel pressure to open with a win against 24th-ranked Ghana. The Black Stars defeated the Americans 2-1 in the 2006 group stage and by the same score in overtime in the round of 16 at the last World Cup in South Africa. "Theyre the team that beat us, kind of crushed our dreams of being in the World Cup, so I think were due a little bit of luck and were due a win against them," Dempsey said. At the 2002 tournament, the U.S. opened with a 3-2 upset of Portugal after taking a shocking three-goal lead in the first 36 minutes. Several of the American players are of German descent, so all three matchups are intriguing. The U.S. will train at home from mid-May until early June and plans a series of exhibition games, which likely will include England as an opponent, before heading to Brazil. "Everybody is saying that this is the Group of Death and its such a hard challenge," former American captain John Harkes said. "I still think that the U.S. can rise to the occasion." Cheap Warriors Jerseys Authentic Cavaliers Jerseys Cheap Spurs Store Celtics Jerseys Online Cheap Bulls Jerseys Cheap Nets Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Wholesale Raptors Jerseys Cyber Monday Pistons Jerseys Wholesale Team USA Basketball Jerseys Cheap Celtics Jerseys Cheap Nets Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Raptors Jerseys From China Cheap Bulls Jerseys Cavaliers Jerseys From China Wholesale Pistons Jerseys Bucks Jerseys From China Pacers Jerseys Outlet Authentic Hawks Jerseys Cheap Hornets Jerseys Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Authentic Wizards Jerseys Cheap Nuggets Jerseys Timberwolves Jerseys Outlet Wholesale Thunder Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Discount Warriors Jerseys Wholesale Clippers Jerseys Wholesale Lakers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Discount Mavericks Jerseys Authentic Rockets Jerseys Discount Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Spurs Jerseys From China ' ' '