Half of the teams are gone. It happened swiftly and occurred over the span of two days, leaving dreams crushed, tears shed and hopes of a national championship gone.
The other half are still alive. They still hold their dreams, their cheeks remain dry and their hopes of cutting down the nets in April endure. Michigan State men’s basketball falls into this category, as the Spartans continue marching into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, March 21, at 2:45 p.m., No. 3 seed Michigan State will tip off against No. 6 seed Louisville at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The winner advances to the Sweet 16 on Friday, March 28.
“I’m excited every time we move onto another game of the NCAA tournament,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “I thought we played one of our better games yesterday. Now we’re onto another day of tough preparation. [Louisville] has a couple of guys that can shoot and they have some depth, so it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
MSU comes off a dominating 92-67 victory over 14-seed North Dakota State. MSU limited the Bison from beyond the perimeter, was led by its core-four players and exhibited the necessary desperation that it takes to win in this tournament.
The Spartans and head coach Tom Izzo know their team doesn’t have the pure talent to match up with the best teams in the tournament. The Cardinals might not be a top seed, but even without their second-leading scorer, Mikel Brown Jr., MSU has a tough road ahead of them.
MSU has three of the top-150 players in the country according to EvanMiya.com, and six in the top-500. Louisville has four in the top-15 and its full nine-man rotation in the top-500.
“Last year we were strength in numbers,” Izzo said. “We played nine guys, anywhere from 16 to 28 minutes. Now we've got some 30-minute guys and we got some 10-minute guys, but those guys are just as important. So it's a little different, but it's still pretty similar. Usually, when you get to the tournament, you shrink your team. But our team is extended a little bit.”
Perimeter defense
Louisville shot better than 50% from 3-point range against South Florida. When opponents get hot from the perimeter, Michigan State loses. When they go cold, the Spartans win.
