Winston-Salem, N.C. — The familiarity between Marquette and MSU led many to believe Thursday night's first-round matchup would be tightly contested. After all, who would know the Spartans' sets better than Tom Crean, a former MSU assistant — and one of Tom Izzo's best friends?

But it turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable evening for the ninth-seeded Spartans. MSU opened the game on a 14-0 tear and defeated eighth-seeded Marquette, 61-49, at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Freshman forward Raymar Morgan opened the Spartans' surge with a wraparound reverse dunk, setting the wheels in motion. Sophomore guard Maurice Joseph nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to close the run.

Finally, with 10:21 remaining in the half, guard David Cubillan nailed a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding and put Marquette's first points on the scoreboard.

The Golden Eagles chiseled away at the lead. Free throws, combined with more 3-point bombs from Cubillan and Dominic he gap to 20-15. But MSU ended the half on another run, scoring 10 points to Marquette's three in the during the final six minutes. The Spartans led at the break, 30-18.

Marquette failed to score a single two-point basket in the first 20 minutes, and the Spartans held a 20-0 advantage in points in the paint.

"The coaching staff did a great job of preparing us though scouting," junior guard Drew Neitzel said. "We knew all their sets. It was team defense, it wasn't just one on one."

MSU's dominance in the key came despite severe foul trouble. Drew Naymick, Marquise Gray and Goran Suton each picked up two first-half fouls, and sophomore center Idong Ibok had to leave the action after an apparent elbow injury.

Walk-on forward Jacob Hannon picked up the slack and even managed to put some points on the board, swooping underneath the rim for a reverse layup late in the half.

"A couple years ago, he was lassoing buffalo," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said of the Wyoming native. "Now he's playing in an NCAA Tournament."

Sophomore guard Travis Walton continued to heap praise on Hannon.

"He works hard in practice every day," Walton said. "He challenges our bigs in practice every day. He did a great job, and it tells the walk-ons what a great job they do for our team."

Things only became easier for MSU in the second half. The Golden Eagles continued to toss up bricks from long distance, while the Spartans continued to methodically dissect the Marquette defense, as if they were plucking the wings off a butterfly.

Neitzel whipped one-handed passes past defenders' ears for layups. Gray finished strong in the paint despite contact, then converted his free throws for a pair of three-point plays. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

A late barrage of 3-pointers brought Marquette to within eight with less than a minute remaining, but it was too little, too late. MSU iced the game with free throws.

Morgan finished with a team-high 14 points, and grabbed nine rebounds. Gray and Neitzel each chipped in 12 points.

The Spartans (23-11) will likely face North Carolina (29-6), the top-seeded team in the East Regional, on Saturday. The game was not finished by press time. The game will tip off at approximately 8:20 p.m.

"Marquette runs the ball as good as most teams we played," Izzo said. "I told our team 'The next team we play might be at warp speed.'"