MSU Dispatches Bryant; Overcomes Slow 1st Half vs New Mexico for Pair of Cleveland Wins

**Rocket Arena- Cleveland, OH**

After a banner regular season campaign, the Michigan State Spartans had earned a 2-seed in the South region and came away a pir of wins in 4 days at Rocket Arena. Both contests focused on their elite team defense, ability to get to the free throw line and controlling the glass in creating second-chance opportunities on offense while limiting the same on defense.

Round 1: 87-62 Win vs. Bryant

In typical fashion, MSU started slow, battled through the first 10 minutes and then finally found their offensive rhythm and turned up the defensive pressure. The Spartans cruised in the second half to a substantial first round win over the Bulldogs and Coach Phil Martelli Jr.

The Bulldogs were led by Rafael Pinzon, game high 21 points (9-26 FG, 2-12 3-pt) and 5 rebounds. Only fellow starter Earl Timberlake finished with 10+ (14) on 6-14 FG shooting, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. MSU was lead with 4 in double figures: Jase Richardson’s 15 points (5-11 FG, 3-4 3-pt), Coen Carr’s team high 18 points (7-10 FGs, 4-5 FTs) with 6 rebounds, Jaden Akins 11 points (4-15 FG, 2-10 3-pt) and 5 rebounds along with Jeremy Fears Jr’s 11 points (2-6 FG, 6-8 FTs), 3 rebounds and 6 assists led a balanced scoring attack.

After the first 5-6 minutes into the second half, MSU doubled their lead from 4 at halftime to the 8–10-point range and never looked back. Their defensive tenacity turned up and only continued to balloon their lead into a suffocating victory, never allowing the Bulldog offense to get anything going and defended the 3-point line very well (5-24 3-pt FG) to cruise to a 20+ point win. MSU has not had a game with a disparity of talent this large since the Washington game, which feels like another season ago at this point.

Game 1 Stats:

Spartans: 31-70 FG (44.3%), 10-26, 3-PT (38.5%), 15-21 FT (71.4%)

Bulldogs: 26-70 FG (37.1%), 5-24, 3-PT (20.8%), 5-9 FT (55.6%)

Rebounds: MSU 54-29 (21-9 offensive); Assists: MSU 16-13; Turnovers: Bryant 7-11 (Points- Bryant 10-8); Fast Break Points: MSU 15-0; Points-In-Paint: MSU 40-34.

Round 2: 71-63 Win vs. New Mexico

Coach Izzo must have felt like he was seeing a ghost. MSU was set to take on Cinderella-minded New Mexico in the second round Sunday. The Lobos squad led by former conference head coach and son of HOF Legend, Rick Pitino, Richard. The familiarity was there, and the game did not disappoint as MSU trailed the entire first half, battling a multi possession deficit (6-10 points) until a late basket closed it to a 2-point New Mexico lead. Coming out, MSU would take the lead and battle for the first 4-5 minutes at the 13:29 mark and seeing it tied against the 7:39 mark before finally taking control with a Jaden Akins 3-pointer and 6 consecutive points by 6th-man Frankie Fidler pushed it to an 8-point lead that MSU would not relinquish down the stretch.

Jase Richardson struggled mightily in his first game of sizeable margin while his team picked up his production who finished only 1-10 FG (0-5 3-pt, 4-4 FTs), 2 rebounds and 4 assists. He would be held off the score sheet until late when he drew a foul on a 3-pointer, late in the shot clock and cashed in on an offensive rebound put-back and then hit the free throw after drawing that foul too. Even when struggling, Coach Izzo fully trusts his guys and has indicated at how mature Jase already was and is all-in on the team concept and trust one-another to get the job done, if they themself aren’t producing. Tre Holloman had 14 points (5-13 FG, 2-5 3-pt, 2-4 FTs) and 4 assists with Akins totaling 16 points (7-11 FG, 2-4 3-pt) on a solid shooting effort which was greatly welcomed. Jeremy Fears Jr continues to show progress in leading the offense and fast break playing 27 minutes and finishing with 5 points (5-8 FTs), 3 rebounds, 2 assists and only 1 turnover to go with 1 block. Fears, Akins and Fidler all had blocks toward the team total of 7. Coen Carr was up to his usual high-flying ways and chipped in with 8 points (2-3 FG, 4-4 FTs), 6 rebounds and 1 assist/block in 25 minutes. Carson Cooper helped slow down the front court attack in 17 minutes and totaled 4 points, 8 rebounds and a block but was pivotal in slowing down the paint traffic and production as Jaxon Kohler struggled and Szymon Zapala continues to see a decrease in minutes despite maintaining his regular starting spot.

Round 2 vs New Mexico:

Spartans: 24-54 FG (44.4%), 4-15, 3-PT (26.7%), 19-28 FT (67.9%)

Lobos: 27-56 FG (48.2%), 4-13, 3-PT (30.8%), 5-10 FT (50.0%)

Rebounds: MSU 34-28 (11-6 offensive); Assists: MSU 14-7; Turnovers: New Mexico 10-9 (Points- MSU 14-8); Fast Break Points: MSU 17-3; Points-In-Paint: NM 42-36.

OVERALL NOTES:

MSU continues to follow their second-half success behind Coach Izzo and his staff making key adjustments in-game in route to this recent run of having only lost to Wisconsin out of their last 10 games. Their second half metrics were already strong during their 13-game/2-month win streak prior to the two loses in California, where they allowed 40+ points a lot and it was called out by Coach Izzo even in their wins, “We have to focus on what we can improve, work on what can make us better,” was the gist of his message and the team has clearly worked on that in creating fewer opportunities for comebacks and answering with multiple runs of their own.

This team has the ability to get to the Final Four and the metrics necessary to compete with the 1-seeds. Their free throw shooting has been suspect over their last 10 games, which must improve as their best guys have been in rapid decline since February 1st; Jaden Akins down -31.4% (to 55.6%), Tre Holloman down -20.3% (to 73.5%) and Frankie Fidler down -19.8% (to 71.4%). These upcoming games will come down to only a few mistakes and who can cash them in from the line. Additionally, they will need to float no lower than 33% from 3-point otherwise it will limit their efficiency from 2-point territory which is where Coen Carr has shined all year along with some decent post ability from Kohler and Cooper. Limit the turnovers, win the paint point battle, rebounds and eclipse 20+ free throws attempted, this Spartans team has the grit and tenacity to beat any team left in the field. Taking a comparison from the 2000 team, here are the similarities: 10 players averaging 10+ minutes per game, leading scorer is a left-handed senior, both had only 3 Big Ten loses and still won the Big Ten, Freshman named Richardson, NCAA bracket region was the same lower-left corner, both played in Cleveland for the first 2 rounds, second game was against a Mountain West team whose coach was named Richard, with the 2000 team winning it all. Should MSU complete an Atlanta sweep, they would be a strong candidate to win it all in San Antonio. But first things first, Coach Beard and the Rebels of Ole Miss.

GAME TIME: Friday, 7:09pm EST on CBS.