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College Football

Michigan State scraps past New Mexico into Sweet 16 for 16th time under Tom Izzo

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Michigan State is still dancing at the NCAA Tournament, rolling into the Sweet 16 after a hard-fought battle vs. New Mexico on Sunday night.

True to expectations, it was a tough and gritty game for all 40 minutes with the Lobos fighting hard under head coach Richard Pitino, a familiar foe for Tom Izzo. However, it was Izzo’s group who had the last laugh, even as New Mexico pushed MSU to the brink.

New Mexico had a quick 10-2 jump over Michigan State to start the game and even carried a slim 31-29 lead into halftime. After the game, Izzo described it as one of the best barrages he’s had hit the Spartans this season.

The 2nd half was a different story with MSU getting the jump with 6 straight points to take a lead. The Lobos would not just fade away though, eventually tying things up at 51 points with 7 and a half minutes left in the game.

The Spartans were ready, running off a quick 7-0 run in just a minute of the game to stake themselves to a 58-51 lead. It was a clutch 3-pointer from Jaden Akins with the shot clock running down that gave Michigan State the lead.

After the game, Akins described his shot as “pretty big” while Izzo chided his star for having “a little more excitement than that” for the momentum-swinging play in the 71-63 win.

“I feel like it was pretty big just giving us the lead. It gave us some momentum. I think they called a time-out so that just gave us a lot of confidence,” said Akins. “It felt good. I ain’t been shooting good, so it just felt good to be efficient today.”

Akins was instrumental for the Spartans, leading the team with 16 points and a truly efficient outing while going 7-for-11 from the field. That was important as freshman Jase Richardson had one of his worst outings of the season, ending the game just 1-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from deep.

True to Michigan State’s model this season, it was a joint effort across the board. Izzo played 9 Spartans in the win with each player scoring 4+ points, including an impressive bench effort for the team.

Tre Holloman was big off the bench with 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals while Frankie Fidler had his best outing since a regular-season win over Wisconsin with 10 points. All combined, Michigan State outscored New Mexico 36-to-7 in bench points.

Sweet 16 outlook

Moving forward, things get considerably tougher for the Spartans, even as the 2-seed in the South Region. ESPN Bet has MSU as a 2.5-point favorite in facing Chris Beard and Ole Miss in the Sweet 16, and No. 1 overall seed Auburn potentially awaits beyond that. First, the Tigers and Michigan will face with Auburn listed as a 7.5-point favorite for that game.

The latest Final Four odds still have Auburn at -135 to win the region and advance to the national semifinals with the Spartans checking in at +260 entering the 2nd weekend. Michigan and Ole Miss are tied at +600 odds to get out of the South Region and reach the Final Four. Be sure to keep up with all the tournament action through the Michigan sports betting apps.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.