Michigan State went down in overtime Thursday night at the hands of Kansas State. Wildcat guard Markquis Nowell set an NCAA Tournament record for assists with 19. He added 20 points, carving up MSU all night as K-State outlasted Michigan State for a 98-93 win.

The 98 points were the 2nd-most an opponent scored on the Spartans all year. MSU couldn’t string together enough stops.

“We just didn’t get stops,” said guard Tyson Walker. “That’s really it.”

Added AJ Hoggard: “This time of year it’s about who’s going to make the plays at the right time. We didn’t get the stops when we needed them, and they capitalized off them.”

The Wildcats ended the game shooting 56% from the field and 46% from 3-point range (11-24).

Turnovers played a role, with 13 MSU giveaways leading to 16 Kansas State points. It was certainly Nowell’s night, though.

“The fall-down end of the shot clock ones, you kind of start thinking it’s not your night. Then when Joey (Houser) goes to the line and misses the front end of a one-and-one, he’s a 91% free throw shooter. Those are tough things to overcome.

“… They just made some incredible shots. We made some good plays. I guess we couldn’t stop them, and I’m sitting there looking at the stats, and I’m talking about how good they were. They shot 56%, but I think they had — including the lay-up at the end — I think they had about 6 lay-ups off of turnovers. They shot 46% from the 3, and we thought they made every shot.”

Michigan State closes out the season at 21-13.