INDIANAPOLIS — Tom Izzo made a promise to his Michigan State club.

“He said ‘You get me through Friday, I’ll do my best to get you through Sunday,’ ” recalled senior guard Travis Walton.

The Spartans held up their end of the bargain by coming back in the closing minutes for a tight 67-62 Midwest Regional semifinal victory over Kansas. Still, Walton figured he needed a little more assurance before facing favored and No. 1 seed Louisville in yesterday’s regional final.

“Woke up at seven in the morning and prayed and prayed and prayed,” Walton said. “I was thanking God for blessing me to be around a man like that who is going to stick to his promises.”

Izzo delivered. His Spartans yesterday slowed Louisville into submission, 64-52, producing a classic example of his coaching philosophy, best summarized by cat-quick guard Kalin Lucas: “Players play, but tough players win.”

It was accomplished in front of an overwhelmingly red-clad Louisville crowd ready for a party in Lucas Oil Stadium, but instead shown the door. Izzo won a national title in 2000 and now heads to his fifth Final Four in 11 years, the most of any school in that span. Been there, done that yet Izzo proclaimed this one was “as big a win as our school has had because we’re headed to Detroit.”

Yes, indeed, Michigan State’s next game, against UConn, is Saturday inside Ford Field, about 90 miles from its East Lansing campus. Detroit has been hit especially hard by the national economic downturn; perhaps that city deserves this.

“I’m just hoping we’re a silver lining in what’s been a little bit of a cloudy year,” Izzo said.

The upset continued an uncanny trend: Every senior class recruited by Izzo has made it into a Final Four.

The most famous Spartan of all, Magic Johnson, was at the game, proudly wearing a green Michigan State sweatshirt. He led the school to the national title 30 years ago.

“Right now,” Johnson said, “the whole school is feeling good about this Michigan State team.”