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Rapid Reaction: Michigan State avoids upset, squeaks past Belmont
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History came awfully close to repeating itself in Des Moines on Thursday.
In 2016, Michigan State suffered a devastating first-round exit as the No. 2 seed, falling to No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee. The Spartans experienced another tough battle this year, getting all they could handle from Bradley in the Round 1 bout.
Bradley held 35-34 advantage at halftime and even had a 55-54 lead with under seven minutes left in the second half, but a furious run from Michigan State was enough to avoid disaster.
Down the stretch, Michigan State went on a 15-5 run and built a 10-point advantage with less than a minute to play, thanks to some big buckets from Cassius Winston, Matt McQuaid and Xavier Tillman. MSU created enough separation and went on to post a 76-65 victory.
Winston was fabulous, scoring 26 points and dishing four assists in the win. Two other Spartans hit double figures, as Tillman added 16 and McQuaid chipped in 10 points.
It was a sloppy game for Michigan State, which was coming off a B1G Tournament title run. With Kyle Ahrens suffering an injury against Michigan in the championship game, MSU’s already depleted bench got even thinner. Fatigue appeared to be a factor, at least early in the game.
But talent prevailed, and the Spartans were too tough down the stretch.
Despite the ugly performance, Michigan State had just nine turnovers in the game and knocked in 25-of-26 free throw attempts. Those two factors proved to be huge in such a tight game, especially in the final five minutes.
With the win, Michigan State will now take on fellow B1G team and No. 10 seed Minnesota with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. The Spartans won the only regular season matchup between the two teams in convincing fashion, defeating the Gophers 79-55 in East Lansing.
Michigan State did enough to get by Bradley in the Round of 64, but it’s going to need to shoot a lot better than it did Wednesday to knock off the Gophers.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB