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Michigan State Is Making Another Trip To The Sweet 16 After MSU Beats Marquette

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Basketball

Michigan State is back in the Sweet 16 for the 15th time under head coach Tom Izzo as the seventh-seeded Spartans beat No. 2 seed Marquette, 69-60, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening in Nationwide Arena.

Three players scored in double figures for the Spartans, led by senior guard Tyson Walker's game-high 23 points. Graduate forward Joey Hauser registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard A.J. Hoggard finished with 13 points and four assists. In addition, junior center Mady Sissoko collected 10 rebounds and scored eight points.

Leading 56-55 at the 3:36 mark in the second half, the Spartans went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to seal the victory. Walker had eight of the 10 points during the key stretch, including a layup, a jump shot, two free throws and a dunk on a fast break. Overall, the Spartans closed the game on a 13-5 run to defeat the Big East regular-season and tournament champion Golden Eagles, 69-60.

Records
Michigan State improves to 21-12 with the victory, while Marquette ends its season with a 29-7 record.

Recap

  • Michigan State led 33-28 at the break, but the Golden Eagles scored the first eight points of the half and took a 36-33 lead after a jumper from Oso Ighodaro.
  • The Spartans responded with a 7-3 run and took a 40-39 lead on a jumper from Walker with 13:20 left.
  • David Joplin's 3-pointer at the 12:13 mark gave Marquette a 42-40 lead, but it would be its last lead of the game.
  • After Joplin's 3, the Spartans responded with an 8-0 run to give MSU a 48-42 advantage with eight minutes to play.
  • Marquette cut MSU's lead to one point at 56-55 with 3:36 remaining, but Michigan State again bounced back with a big run, scoring 10 straight points over the next three minutes to take a commanding 66-55 lead with just 39 seconds remaining. Walker scored eight of the 10 points during the run.
  • Tyler Kolek stopped Marquette's scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to make it 66-58, Hauser made two free throws and Walker split a pair at the line in the final 30 seconds to make the final, 69-60.
  • After a turnover and steal that resulted in a Marquette layup on the opening possession of the game, the Spartans scored the next 11 points.
  • A 3-pointer from Hoggard made it 9-2 and forced the Golden Eagles to call a timeout with 16:49 on the clock and a putback layup from Hall gave MSU an 11-2 lead at 16:07.
  • The Spartans took their biggest lead of the first half, 18-5, on free throws from Hauser with 12:24 left.
  • Marquette pulled to within 21-13 on a 3-pointer from Kam Jones, but a putback layup from junior forward Sissoko pushed the lead back to 10 points, 23-13.
  • MSU led by 12 points, 27-15, after Hall fed freshman center Carson Cooper for an alley-oop with 6:08 to play, but the Golden Eagles used a 16-1 run and pulled to within three points, 31-28, after a 3-pointer from Olivier-Maxence Propser with 56 seconds left.
  • A running jumper from Akins with 18 seconds left gave MSU the 33-28 lead at the break.

Key Stats

  • Michigan State shot 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the free-throw line, including 88.2 percent (15-of-17) in the second half.
  • The Spartans had a +5 margin on the boards, outrebounding Marquette 36-31.
  • MSU outscored Marquette in the paint, 32-16.
  • Tyson Walker scored 23 points, the most of his career in an NCAA Tournament game. He was 8-of-17 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. It marked Walker's fourth 20-point game this season (MSU with 4-0 record in those games).
  • Joey Hauser recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. MSU is 6-1 when Hauser registers a double-double. Hauser was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
  • Mady Sissoko collected 10 rebounds for his fifth double-figure rebounding game of the season; MSU is 5-0 in those contests. Sissoko also had two blocks and two steals while shooting 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line for eight points.
  • Freshman Carson Cooper played a career-high 16 minutes (15:53) and had two rebounds and two points for the Spartans.
  • Michigan State defeated Marquette despite only making two 3-pointers in the game (2-of-16 shooting from 3), the second-fewest 3's by MSU this season (0 vs. Illinois).
  • The Spartans held Tyler Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year, to seven points on 2-of-8 shooting and also forced him into committing six turnovers.
  • Michigan State limited Marquette to 60 points, tied for its second-lowest scoring output of the season (55 vs. Mississippi State on Nov. 21).
  • The Golden Eagles made 11 3-pointers (11-of-27), but shot just 38.5 percent overall from the field (20-of-52), including 36 percent (9-of-25) from inside the arc.
  • MSU forced 16 Marquette turnovers.

Notes

  • Michigan State is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since reaching the Final Four in 2019.
  • Tom Izzo will be making his 15th appearance in the Sweet 16.
  • Izzo improved to a remarkable 24-7 in the second game of the weekend during NCAA Tournament play.
  • Izzo is now 15-4 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • With the win over second-seeded Marquette, Izzo now has the most wins (16) as a lower seed by a head coach in NCAA Tournament history (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, 15).
  • Izzo improved to 55-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Michigan State improved to 3-0 all-time vs. Marquette in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, MSU leads the all-time series, 33-23.
  • Michigan State is 72-34 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
  • The Spartans are making their 17th trip to the Sweet 16 since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, including the 15th under Izzo.
  • Joey Hauser and Mady Sissoko each grabbed 10 rebounds, the second time this season the duo had both grabbed double figures in the same game (Nebraska, Jan. 23).

Up Next
Michigan State plays third-seeded Kansas State (25-9) in the NCAA East Regional semifinal on Thursday, March 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.