Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

College Football

Michigan State falls to Kansas State in Sweet 16 OT thriller, ending NCAA Tournament run

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Michigan State’s 2023 NCAA Tournament run has come to a close. No. 7 seed MSU came out on the short end of an overtime thriller in Madison Square Garden, falling 98-93 to No. 3 seed Kansas State.

KSU’s Markquis Nowell turned in an all-time performance. Nowell had a double-double of 20 points and 19 assists, a new NCAA Tournament record. Nowell’s 18th assist to tie the NCAA Tournament record was a highlight lob to Keyontae Johnson, who slammed it home to put the Wildcats up 94-92 with 52 seconds left to go in overtime. He broke the record helping KSU extend the lead 96-93. Fittingly, it was Nowell who swiped the ball on MSU’s final possession and added a layup for the 98-93 final score.

Johnson was KSU’s leading scorer with 22 points, but it was Nowell who was interviewed on the TV broadcast with social media buzzing over an epic performance.

Michigan State trailed 43-38 at the half. The Spartans made up for that by winning the second half 44-39 for an 82-82 tie forcing overtime. In the extra period, the Wildcats outscored the Spartans 16-11. The game was tied 14 times for a total of 9:08. Kansas State led for over 27 minutes, while MSU’s time leading totaled just 8:41. There were 16 lead changes in the game.

MSU played from behind for much of the final 6 minutes of the 2nd half. KSU took a 72-70 lead at the 6:17 mark. The Spartans trailed up until Tyson Walker tied it 82-82 with 5 seconds left in regulation. Walker finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor (4-of-7 from 3-point range), along with 5 assists and 3 rebounds.

Joey Hauser was the only Spartan in double figures at the end of the first half with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting (2-of-4 3-pointers) and 4 free throws. Howser finished with 18 points. A.J. Hoggard led the way for MSU in the 2nd half with 11 points and 7 OT points to finish with a team-high 25 points.

As the score indicates, both teams shot well Thursday night in The Garden. Michigan State made 49% of its field-goal attempts. Kansas State went 38-of-68 for 56% shooting. Both teams made double-digit 3-pointers.

KSU won the turnover battle. MSU turned it over 13 times to Kansas State’s 5. The Wildcats created 16 points off turnovers, while the Spartans managed just 2. Kansas State had 10 steals to MSU’s 2 and managed 26 assists to the Spartans’ 8.

Tom Izzo’s squad finishes with a 21-13 record in the 2022-23 campaign.

Andrew Olson

A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.